A Better Tomorrow
by Rainbowhawk1993
Summary: The past is filled with darkness, destruction and pain. But who says the future will be the same? There is always hope. The war is raging, and we will fight. Rated T for violence, language and love making.
1. Pain

Pain

They all walked across the ground. They all carried what they had left. Their heads were bent down and they dragged their feet. Their faces were stone and their hearts were empty.

Neytiri clutched the bow of her father as she walked beside her people. She felt nothing inside her; no joy, no life, no hope. Only sadness filled her eyes and only rage kept her going. Rage to the demons who took everything from her. Her sister, her father, her home. Everything; save her mother.

They destroyed, they killed and the deceived. They lead them to believe they could be trusted, that they wanted to learn about them for the sake of knowledge. But the one who was sent to them told them he had only came to get them out of their way. He may have not have put a knife into her flesh but he left a wound on her heart so deep that it will never go away. How could she have trusted him? How could she have trusted any of them? What was left of a home filled with happiness and life was a massive tree laying in a smoldering landscape covered in ash. The pain was inescapable except to the ones who didn't or refused to see.

She saw a mother carry a crying infant. A father carried his trembling six-year-old son. Many of them bared cuts, burses, and some burns. She saw a limp body dragged with a leaf carrier. Grace's avatar went limp after the tree fell. The children pleaded not to leave her. Moat told them to bring her along; she and the children knew her. She wasn't the cause of this.

They reached the tree-of-souls in the late afternoon after a day and a half of marching. It was the only thing these people had left. They didn't ask for much in their civilization. They were satisfied with the things they were given. Yet everything they had was easily taken away in one brutal stroke of greed. Neytiri followed her mother to the base of the tree as everyone filed into the basin. She heard the cries of her people as they looked upon their loved ones. She looked up and saw the ikrans and the riders who made it out of hometree perch on the sides of the well.

Tsu' tey dismounted from his ikran and came to the base of the mighty tree. He turned his head and saw Neytiri. He came forward and stood before her. She looked up into the eyes of the man who she was supposed to be with. She saw no anger in him. Only… disappointment.

She was told that she would become Tsahìk if she mated with the best warrior. But the stranger came and she was told to teach him. Through the days, she felt she saw someone in that half spirited body. She knew she had a duty for her people, but she began to question herself. Would she go down a path where she would benefit from the position of her people or down one where she benefited with someone who could give her so much in her life from the inside? Then everything fell apart when she realized her choice was in vain. Now she was in a place where she could not go back. She had no more directions to take only to stand by and help her people as best she could.

Neytiri looked away in anguish and stepped past him. He still stood where he was as she did.

They all gathered around the tree and Moat lead them all in a chant. For generations, singing gave sprit, luck and hope to everyone. But now, singing seemed futile. But they all persisted. They all sung for all who fell. They were one people. They would wish everyone be blessed.

Neytiri closed her eyes and felt the sunlight beat on her eye lids as she followed the chant. She would commit to her people. Even with all her numbing regret, she would always be there in the darkest of ti-

She felt a shadow block the light that beat down on her face. She stopped singing and she opened her eyes. Almost in unison, the people's voices fell silent as they turned their heads around. A scream erupted and it began to spread. Even Neytiri let one out as the excitement over took her. The people leaped up and stumbled as they tried to run in the over dense crowd.

A giant winged creature descended down into the well. As it approached to ground, it reared back, extended out its claws, touched down and gave a roar as it displayed its massive, colorful wings.

As quickly as the people had been frightened, they were now paralyzed and silent and they all staired in one direction. Neytiri looked upon the beast when she recovered. She saw... someone on the giant beast's shoulders.


	2. Hope

Hope

_No more talk! Raaaagh!_

_What are you saying Jake? You knew this would happen?_

_I trusted y- I trusted you!_

_YOU WILL NEVER BE ONE OF THE PEOPLE!_

_GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NEVER COME BACK!_

_If you are one of us… help us._

* * *

><p>Jake dismounted from the mighty Leonopteryx's shoulders. He casually removed his queue from the creature's antenna as he came forward to formally acquaint himself with his new steed. He rubbed the creature's brow and beak as he looked into the creature's larger eye of the two.<p>

Now that he was formally acquainted with the great beast, and knowing he had about 200 pairs of eyes locked on him, he turned to face the silent, awestruck crowd. Jake took a breath, and proceeded down the basin. The people kept their eyes locked on him as they moved aside to allow him to walk through. He kept a steady face as he passed by the faces of the broken beings. He felt they weren't as broken as they were the last time he saw them. Though he did not look any of them in the eye, he could see their eyes were not filled with sorrow. They were filled with… hope.

_"Toruk makto… Toruk makto_…_ Toruk makto!"_

Neytiri stood silent as everyone else. Time seemed to have slowed down and sped up at the same time. Her emotion was unclear as her mind cycled through all of her thoughts which came too fast for herself to comprehend. She didn't know exactly what she felt inside herself nor did she remember what she had felt seconds before. When she saw him proceed forward through the crowd, she felt her foot step forward. She came to the bottom of the roots of the tree and found herself before him. He looked into her eyes and when she looked back she saw something familiar in those two eyes of his. She could see someone she thought she saw three months before.

"I see you," she breathed out.

A small, reassuring grin grew from his face. "I see you."

Jake placed his hand on her arm. Almost immediately she raised her arm and laid her hand on his elbow. Jake continued to move his hand up her slender arm until his fingers lay on the side of her neck. Her hand stopped at his shoulder.

"I was afraid, Jake," Neytiri said as he placed his other hand on her neck. "For my people. I'm not anymore."

Jake looked reassuringly in her eyes as he exhaled softly. He then moved his eyes up to the basin of the tree as he pulled his arms away from her. Neytiri walked up to where her mother stood. Mo'at gently embraced her daughter as they both watched Jake proceed up the roots.

"Tsu'tey of the Rongloa." Jake said in Na'vi, "I stand before you, ready to serve the people." Tsu'tey was at a loss of words as he heard what the warrior said to him. Jake then lowered his voice so only Tsu'tey could hear "You are _Olo'eyctan_, and you are a good warrior. I can't do this without you."

Tsu'tey struggled with how he would reply. He looked up as tourk reared back a little to stretch its wings. He finally mustered himself to say, "Tourk Makto!" He then placed his hand accross Jake's heart. "I will fly with you." Jake could tell he struggled to find the passion for his new, unexpected, ally. He could accept that.

"My friend is dying" Jake said when he was sure of his friend's trust. "Grace is dying." He felt the reaction of Neytiri and Mo'at as he looked over to them. "I beg the help of Eywa"


	3. The Call

The Call

_I'm going to get you some help, Grace._

_I'm a scientist, remember? I don't believe in fairy tales._

* * *

><p>The people all sat aligned around the tree. Their queues were encased with thread-like roots that emerged from the ground. The ground illuminated with a pulsing glow as the people all hummed in unison.<p>

Jake carried grace's body as he walked through the crowd, careful not to disturb anyone. Her clothing was removed an was replaced by a little bunch of vines and leaves. Neytiri followed close behind him and Norm's avatar came along carrying Grace's avatar to the basin.

"Look where we are grace." Jake said.

Grace opened her eyes and peered through the plastic rim of the exo-pack mask. She saw the violet tendrils of a giant tree with a number of woodsprits floating in the midst of the upper branches. A painful grin came upon her face as she exhaled in disbelief.

"I need to take some samples." She said.

Jake looked down and gave a quick chuckle.

Once he and Norm reached the base of the tree, they gently placed both bodies adjacent to one another according to Mo'at's instructions. Once they were settled down, the ground below them began to move. Jake saw tiny little threads of roots crawl around both bodies.

"The great mother may choose to save all that she is-" Moat spoke as the bodies continued to be encased, "-in this body" Her hands moved from Grace over to her avatar.

"Is that possible?" Jake asked.

"She must pass through the eye of Ewya and return" She said calmly. "But Jakesully...," She now had a little doubt in her voice; "...she is very weak."

_Just do it._ Jake thought in his head.

Neytiri kneeled down and joined another Na'vi in the chant. Norm and Jake stood by the encased bodies.

"Hang in there, Grace," he tried to reassure her, "We're gonna fix you up."

The energy in the well grew as the people lifted their arms and held each other by their shoulders. They all sawed back and forth in perfect harmony.

"Hear us please, all mother" Moat swayed freely on top of the dais as she spoke in Na'vi.

"Eywa, help her!" The crowd all said together.

"Take this spirit into you…"

"Eywa, help her!"

"…and breathe her back to us."

"Eywa, help her!"

"Let her walk among us…"

"Eywa, help her!"

"…as one of the people"

"Eywa, help her!"

The people lifted their hands and waved them high above their heads before returning them to their companions' shoulders. Jake saw more of the roots form, this time they reached up and contacted the base of Grace's neck.

_Come on, hang in there! You'll be okay!_

Moat began to mutter words faster under her breath as her eyes rolled white and she swayed more and more people now shouted out freely and wildly to Eywa. A total wave of chaos emerged as the shouts and cries echoed through the air.

Then, Moat stopped. Her eyes rolled back to their normal position as she regained control of her conscience. She looked behind her at the two bodies with suspicion in her eye.

"Silence!" She told the crowd.

A breath escaped Grace's mask. Jake realized she regained consciousness.

"Jake," she said as she used what strength she had left to lift her arm and broke the threads attached to her. Jake abruptly came forward and took her frail hand and looked down into her eyes. Neytiri came forward to see as well.

"Grace," Jake said cupping her hand with both of his.

He saw total amazement in her eyes; dumbstruck, awe, fascination.

"I'm with her, Jake." She breathed out, "-she's real!"

Jake saw her eyes begin to fade.

_No! NO! This can't be happing! This can't happen! Not now!_

"Grace!" he said as he saw her eyes close and her muscles went limp. "Grace!"

The glow of the roots began to fade around both bodies. In just seconds, all light from the ground was gone.

"What's happening?" He asked anxiously. "Did it work?"

Mo'at waved her arms over Grace's avatar. After a few short seconds, she withdrew them slowly.

"Her wounds were too great, t'was not enough time. She is with Eywa now."

Neytiri exhaled a breath of tension when she accepted the truth. She reached down and gently removed Graces mask and placed it aside. She placed her hand on the back of Grace's head like a mother would do with her child.

The realization flowed coldly through Jake's body. He couldn't move. He let out an uneasy sigh through his mouth. He closed his eyes in anguish and clasped his fist tightly. The people stood and looked up as Jake curled in grief.

_I told her she'd be okay. I told her! God damn it!_

He felt the feeling of loss before when his parents and brother died. But this time, he felt it hurt more than anything before. She was person who had a rough start with him but it smoothed out over the weeks. She said she looked after him as his boss …and possibly a friend someday. Well, that "friend someday" would turn out to be something more to him before that day would ever come; a mother. A mother that he never had before.

The grief that pulsed through Jake's body was suddenly replaced by something else; something that grew and reached every muscle in his body. He rose from his grieving pose and opened his eyes that were filled with that something.

_So this is how it is, isn't it? Well, if they're going to play dirty, I guess we'll just have to play their way and make our move!_

He turned to Neytiri and offered his hand. Immediately, she accepted it and came to her feet. With her by his side, Jake stood before Tsu'tey.

"With your permission, I will speak now. You would honor me by translating."

Without a word, Tsu'tey gave a nod and moved to the side. Jake came forward and looked down upon the people.

"The Sky People have sent us a message- that they can take whatever they want, and no one can stop them. Well, we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as the wind can carry you. You tell the other clans to come. You tell them that Toruk Makto calls to them! You fly now, with me, my brothers, sisters, and we will show the Sky People that they cannot take whatever they want! And that this, this is our land!"

The crowd erupted as Tsu'tey finished with a loud call. Neytiri followed in as Tsu'tey hoisted his bow into the air.

With the entire well echoing with the call, Jake hastily took Neytiri's hand and dashed through the crowd up to where Toruk was waiting. Once he was able to get in synch with his steed, he hopped onto its shoulders and Neytiri follow and sat behind him. The great beast reared back as it let out a screech which could only mean, "Fly!" Toruk beat his massive wings and lifted off the ground. The riders climbed up to the ikrans and took to the air behind him. Jake heard Neytiri give out a moral-filled scream to the flyers as they cleared the well. The riders all went their ways into the fading dusk light. They all carried the call. The call to unite, the call to fight, the call… to war.


	4. Why I fight

Why I fight

The ground rumbled with the thunder of the hooves that pounded the dirt and the sky echoed with ear piercing screeches and accompanying them both was the beat of war drums surging through the land.

Within a night, Jake's group of fliers was able to reach the clans of the plans and of the seaboard to have their warriors come and help with the war effort. When they returned, Jake saw the other fliers return with more of the clans from across the land.

Jake leaned against a tree trunk outside the battle camp. They would all be heading to war soon and Jake knew this. He needed a little time alone to keep his mind focused. He felt someone approach from behind him after a few minutes. He looked behind him through the corner of his eye. It was Neytiri. He took a deep breath and turned to her. They haven't had any time to talk alone. After everything that happened, they needed to talk.

"Oel Ngati Kameie," Jake said to her.

"I see you," Neytiri said surprisingly in his language. Jake could sense hesitation and emotional conflict in her voice. Neytiri broke eye contact.

"Jake…" She muttered "I…"

"Don't," Jake cut in softly. "Look, you don't have to forgive me."

Neytiri looked up at him. Her eyes did show some surprise from his response.

"Why have you returned?" She said after a second.

Jake was silent at first. He turned around and leaned against the tree again to think of how he would respond to the question.

"I came back… because of something that the sky people taught me."

Neytiri walked up to his side and looked into his eye. Jake looked back and could see she wanted to know about this. He didn't tell her much about himself or his life before he came to her. This was probably the chance to tell her. He moved from the tree and sat down on a nearby log. Neytiri followed and sat beside him.

"Before I came here, I choose to be a warrior because I thought it would be good to prove that I could be someone special; to pass any test a man could pass." His tone was cold and flat. "On my way to being a warrior, I learned what it meant to be one. For hundreds of years, there were many wars between many Sky people and so many innocent people died because of stupid and selfish reasons. In the army I was in, many of us believed we could fight to make a difference; to save lives and to have them live their lives in freedom."

Neytiri looked away for a moment to think about what he said. Sky people fighting other Sky people for their own gain; that made sense to her from what she saw them do already. But from everything else she heard from him made her think about the Sky people more.

"When I finally got through training, I was eager to fight. But I was sent to fight in a minor conflict that was just stupid to have been started in the first place. During a battle, I was hit. After I recovered, I couldn't feel my legs and I couldn't walk again. I was basically finished before I could get started."

Neytiri tilted her head back in confusion.

"You were hurt and you could not walk again? But how do you walk as one of us?"

"Because this body doesn't have that wound. The machines that I and other dreamwalkers go into place our sprits into these bodies. But that doesn't matter right now."

He took a deep breath before he continued, "I'm guessing you want me to tell you how I got into this mess in the first place, huh?"

Slowly, she nodded.

"It started with me finding out my brother was dead." Neytiri shook with empathy when the words left his lips."Hell... him being dead is the whole reason I'm here'" Jake realized.

He turned his head to look at her. Slowly, he reached over took her hand into his.

"He was the one who was supposed to come here. He was a scientist like Norm and Grace," He then placed her hand onto his chest. "He was the one who was supposed to have this body, not me," He then released her hand. "Because he was dead, the sky people came looking for me to take his place just so they can save their money. I was basically an accident."

Jake took a pause to collect his thoughts and to let Neytiri collect hers.

"When I got here, nobody really liked me, not even Grace. She thought I was just another one of the careless bastards who just get paid to shoot anything they saw. But those bastards found an opportunity with me. Because I was able to dreamwalk, they ordered me to come to you an'..." Jake paused, "Well… Y'know. At first I didn't know what to think because they offered to fix my legs when I was done here."

He looked over and saw a battle of emotions in her eyes. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know whether she should feel angry or feel sorry.

"Halfway through it, I didn't know what to do; after everything I've seen, everything I've done… and after everything I felt. But when it all went wrong, when they saw me trying to stop the dozer, they thought I was a traitor. Everything I worked for was lost; I wouldn't get to walk when I got home. And because I was not an effective way of talking things out anymore, they lost their patience and brought the rain to Hometree. I..." He couldn't finish his thought with Neytiri by his side.

He looked over at Neytiri again but her head was turned away. Jake felt he explained enough and just placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Look… I just want to let you know that… I'm sorry." Neytiri slowly turned her head to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry that I lied. I'm sorry that I hurt you. And I'm sorry that I couldn't stop them from attacking Hometree. I don't care if this thing is enough to make up for all of that." He made a gesture to the soaring Ikrans and the warriors riding them.

"I just don't want any more of this world to suffer. It's been through enough. That's why I fight."

Jake lifted his hand off of Neytiri's shoulder. He lifted himself up and began to walk.

"Oh, one more thing," He turned around one last time. "Your mother said to me that if I was one of you, I should help you. Well, even if I wasn't, I'd still do it."

Jake turned around and disappeared into the forest. Neytiri remained on the log and looked out across the brush and thought to herself.

* * *

><p><em>Look, they sent me here… to learn your ways. So I can bring you this message and you would believe it. <em>

_I trusted you!_

_YOU WILL NEVER BE ONE OF THE PEOPLE!_

_They're coming! __Run to the forest! GOD DAMN IT RUN!_

_Get away! GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NEVER COME BACK!_

_That is __Tsahaylu… the bond. Feel her. Feel her heart beat._

_Yea, check it out! __Awe Crap!_

_How will I know if he chooses me?_

_He will try to kill you._

_Outstanding!_

_First fight seals the bond. You must not wait! Think: "FLY!"_

_I came like this- this you. I turned- I feel your wind-_

_Yeah – see I turned so hard-_

_You are __Omaticaya __now. You may make your own bow from the wood of Hometree. And you may choose a woman. We have many fine women._

_I've already chosen…but this woman must also choose me._

_She already has._

_I am with you now Jake. We are mated for __life__._

* * *

><p>She came to her feet… and ran.<p> 


	5. Reasons to live

Reasons to live

Jake looked around as he strolled through the thick brush. It was still late afternoon and daylight was still hours from setting but Jake remembered the first time when he saw the woods at night; how all the colors from ever plant swirled in what could be seen as a harmonious dance before his eyes.

_I guess this might be another reason to fight._

He heard a voice shout out his name from behind him suddenly. Jake turned around just in time to see Neytiri leap forward and clasp herself to him. Jake was completely off guard and nearly lost his balance.

"I forgive you." She muttered with her check pressed hard against the side of his neck. He could feel tears drop onto his skin when she sobbed, "Now… I m-must ask for your f-forgiveness."

Jake hesitated in his response, "Wha…? Y-You don't have to apal-"

"Kehe!" Neytiri pulled back abruptly away from him, her face now soaked with dripping tears. "You are only saying these things because you feel the truth will hurt me!"

"Wha? Uh… no … it's just…"

"STOP!" And he did.

"You came to us and we taught you so much. We thought you could not learn. I thought you could not learn. But you did. I thought you to be like the rest of the Sky people. But if what you said about yourself is true, then you were a true warrior. You _could_ have seen before. You only needed to open your eyes."

Jake took a moment to think about what she said about him. "Well, how do you know that? Isn't fighting for something bigger than yourself just what a regular warrior would do? And why is that something to get upset about?"

"I know because I saw it in your eyes when you were my student." She continued. "You never gave up. You were braver than any of the sky people. You were even braver than some of the people. And you came back to us all. That is the bravest thing that I have seen."

"Then why the hell are you crying your eyes out?" Jake firmly said to her.

"Because…" She choked up again. "I… _left_ you."

Jake stood in silence for a moment. "I don't care about that. You had a right to be angry at me, right?"

"You wanted the people to leave Hometree so they would not be hurt," Neytiri started. "You cared about the people. You wanted to help… and we only saw you as one of them. We did not listen. You could have died."

"Hey, hey," Jake insisted, "If you're upset because you didn't know that I would be-"

"THAT DOES NOT MATTER!" she shouted before he could finish. "We were mated, Jake! Mates do not leave each other to die!"

Jake stood silent as she bent her head down when she couldn't hold back the sobbing.

"I chose you, Jake, and you chose me." She muttered when she got her breath back. "From our Tsahaylu, I knew you were the man I thought you were. Even when I told you to leave, deep down, I still loved you. You could have died and I would have been alone. I would have been… b-blind… with anger and… h-hate f-for-"

_"Shhhh,"_ Jake gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"It's okay." He said trying to comfort her. She looked into his eyes as he spoke, "If you think you screwed up… well, then I've already forgiven you."

Her body gave way to relief as she expelled her next tear. After a moment, she broke the silence.

"Do… do you still… w-want me?"

Jake took in a breath, "I've seen a few women come and go in my sorry-ass life before. But none of them come even close to you. Being with you makes me feel like I'm actually someone; someone who has a life worth living. But I would only be happy if you would be happy to live the rest of your life with me. It's your choice."

Neytiri lifted up her hand and gently placed it on his cheek. "I chose you before, Jake, and I choose you now."

After a second, Jake calmly gave his answer, "Then, yes."

Both of them stood silent for awhile until Jake leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. Jake saw another tear escape her eye when they met each other's gaze again. Jake could tell the tear fell because she was relieved to be with him again. After another pause, she came closer and embraced him.

Neytiri closed her eyes and took in deep breaths as she rested her head on his shoulder. Jake held her and gently rubbed her back with his hand. He too closed his eyes and gently caressed his cheek against her hair. Both of them swayed back and forth in the middle of the forest; together in each other's arms again.

Jake came back to fight for something he believed was worth fighting for. He didn't want anything out of it only to see the sun rise for the people who had a shadow thrust upon them. But now, he had another reason to fight; and that reason was a reason to live.


	6. The calm before the stom

The Calm Before the Storm

"Jake, it's getting crazy here. It's full mobilization. They're rigging the shuttle as a bomber. They got these mining explosives. It's for some sort of shock and awe campaign."

Trudy tilted her head back as she rolled her eyes, "Freakin' daisy cutters."

"Quaritch is rollin' and there's no stopping him."

"When?" Jake asked.

"0600 tomorrow -I gotta go!" Max's hand hit a switch and the screen went blue with no signal. Norm leaned forward and turned computer off.

"We're screwed." Norm exclaimed.

"_Heh_… and here I was hoping for a tactical plan that didn't involve martyrdom." Tudy said.

Jake stared out the window of the link room half of the shack that they moved over to the arches. He felt he could see the clans pouring into the canyon from a far.

_Did we come this far just to be scared of an oversized bomb?_

"I've fifteen clans out there," He said to them. "It's over 2,000 warriors."

They looked at Jake as he tried to brighten the day.

"We fly these mountains. You fly them. They don't. Their instruments won't work up here. Missile tracking won't work. They'll have to fire line-of-sight. If they bring the fight to us, then we have the home field advantage."

Trudy could sense the desperation in his tone. She did find some points valid but she couldn't disregard the fact they were very out gunned.

"Y'Know he's going to commit that bomb straight to the Tree of Souls."

"Yea, I know."

"If they get to the Tree of Souls it's over. It's their direct line to Ewya- their ancestors. It'll destroy them."

"Well then I guess we'd better stop him."

* * *

><p>Jake walked through the battle camp as the war rituals raged on. He saw many riders take bowls and paint themselves and their steeds. He heard the tune of giant flutes hum through the air. He felt the shock of Pendulum drums being wacked from the trapeze mallets that the dancers swung back and forth on. He came by some fire pits with many dancers swirling around to have the sprits guide them for the battle-to-come.<p>

_They've got the heart. That's always good._

* * *

><p>Jake sat with a number of warriors by Trudy's Samson while Norm's avatar took a brush and a bowl of paint to color the exterior.<p>

"You don't have to fear this beast you can kill it!" He told the group. Then he said to Trudy who stood before them. "Tell 'em"

"Alright, the gunships main weakness is the rotor system." She said addressed, trying to sound informative. Jake translated and tapped his bow on the blade housing.

She then told them a complicated explanation if they take that out one of them, the entire ship will go belly up. Jake simply said, "Strike here."

"Right," Trudy said when the hunters gave a whoop that meant they knew what to do.

* * *

><p>Jake adjusted the Hydra machine gun on the left side of the Samson while some hunters stayed to take a closer look at the ship to familiarize themselves. Trudy stood on the inside of the bay to insure the right calibrations to the gun.<p>

"You know our chances suck, right?" Trudy said to Jake.

Jake knew she was right. Giving encouragement would be a lot of bullshit right now. He saw in her eye that she couldn't be convinced with motivation when the facts remained.

"Yep," he said matter-of-factly.

"We're going up against gunships…with bows and arrows."

_And yet you still went through all the trouble to bust us out and bring us here._

"What's your point?" Jake stared into her eye.

"Right" She already knew what he meant. "Pull here."

* * *

><p><em>We've got numbers and we defiantly have heart.<em>

_But will it be enough?_

He tried so hard to force that out of his head but it always seemed to come back. The dogs of war were unchained and they couldn't stop now. The sky people were going to come, and the people would need to fight.

Jake knew they would be coming through the mountains to get to the tree. They could set up an ambush dive from the higher rocks and box them in a bit. If they were lucky enough, they could down at least a dozen guns ships on the initial strike and cause some confusion. But when they get back together, they would be venerable from the guns and they would need precision to take them out one by one. Moreover, the riders on the ground will have tuff time inflicting damage on the troops the troop carriors would deploy on the ground when they form a wall of lead. Guns, cannons, rockets, missiles, napalm, and to top it all off, a bomb that creates a doomsday sized crater. And if that crater appears in the right place, what would happen? What would become of a proud race that prospered for thousands of years? He didn't want to find out.

"Probably just talking to a tree right now. But if your there, I need to give you a heads up." He brought up his queue and entwined the tip with the Tree-of-Soul's tendril.

Jake needed all the help he could get with this. He had a thought: since the Na'vi had so much faith in their beloved mother nature, and they seem to have gotten the things they asked her for, why not try it. He didn't really have much belief in religious deities, not even in god when he grew up on earth, but he figured it couldn't hurt now. He came and sat in front of the tree and connected his mind to it. He could feel a presence when the energy flowed through his body indicating he could now make his prayer if he could call it that.

"If Grace is with you, look into her memories. See the world that we come from. There's no green there. They killed their mother, and they're going to do the same here." Jake remembered earth; a dull, lifeless world being driven deeper into darkness from sheets of metal and muck.

"More sky people will come. They will come like a rain that never ends… unless we stop them. I will stand and fight, you know I will. But I need a little help here." He knew he sounded desperate. He didn't want to show that he could lose control but it was hard when the fate of an entire species, and even an entire world, rested in the hands of one man and the army he leaded.

He felt a set of hands appear on his shoulder. He heard a voice speak to him.

"Our great mother does not take sides Jake." Neytiri said as he came to his feet. "She protects only the balance of life."

She gently stroked her hand across his cheek. Jake looked up at the distant woodsprits that floated up in the distant canvas of the tree.

"It was worth a try."

He brought his hands to her shoulders and looked into each others' eyes for a brief moment. They leaned their necks forward and held their foreheads against one another. Tomorrow a storm would come and everyone would have to ride it. Many of them will not make it through. Either of them could be one. This moment might be the last they every see each other alive ever again. They both stood quietly in peace.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note<strong>: If you have the Avatar collector's edition DVD/blu-ray, this has the deleated scene "Battle Camp" in it.


	7. To war

To War

The air screamed with rotor blades slicing the air and mighty jet engines blasted air on the ground. One by one, hundreds of metal clad Scorpions and troop-filled Samsons lifted off the ground. The mighty Dragon gunship lifted off and joined the swarm followed by the massive Valkyrie.

Matt Harrison watched as the aircraft formed together and departed toward their destination. He assisted with the mobilization as he was told; he checked the guidance systems, checked the navigation HUDs on the Scorpions and calibrated the ailerons of the Samsons to respond cleanly. He had been stationed on Pandora for about 9 months as a technician and he was surprised he wasn't one of the unlucky ones. And that was a good thing because he had another job to do all the way over here.

Back on earth, before he was sent to Pandora, he walked down the overcrowded streets from the bar one day back to his apartment. When he emptied his pockets he found a peice of paper in one of them. He saw an address on it and two sentences that were underlined:

Where are you going? …and… A better tomorrow.

On the bottom it said, "Memorize and burn".

As Matt saw the last of the choppers take off, he felt a twinge in his stomach. They were going all out, no mercy, no remorse, just a pure storm that was about to be brought upon a species that had never been off of their own planet.

_God save them! They don't deserve this._

* * *

><p>Wings pounded the sky as the ikrans and their riders followed behind the mighty Tourk and its rider. Jake clinched his machine gun in his hand. He wore war paint on his face like the other warriors and a com-collar along with the ear piece. He looked to his side and saw Tsu'tey flying beside him. He wore his paint and another com-collar. Jake had given it to him so they can coordinate with each other when the battle became chaotic and would be almost impossible to coordinate alone. Tsu'tey looked into his eye and raised his bow to saluted him. He was ready. Jake looked to his right. Neytiri flew aside him with a com-collar along with her war paint. She was ready. They were all ready.<p>

For so long, Jake wanted something to fight for something worth fighting for. He never thought that was going to happen when took his brother's place on a deal to a new world. But he didn't count on being at the tip of the spear. He tried not to think about it. What mattered now was stopping that shuttle. It was now or never. They approached the canyon of the mountains where the ikran riders perched up ready to pounce on the approaching gunships.

"Jake, do you copy?" Norm's voice crackled in his ear piece. "We have contact. We're moving in!"

"Copy, give 'em hell!" Jake replied. Norm was on the ground with the rest of the horse warriors. His call meant the RDA had already deployed their ground troops which meant the gunships and the shuttle carrying their present for the Na'vi where well on their way. And sure enough, the convoy emerged from under the mountains right under the Ikran warriors perched on the sides of the crevice overlooking emerging swarm of RDA ships ready for the go order to attack. The time to strike was now.

_Here's where the fun begins._ Jake coldly thought to himself.

He flew into the crevice where the ikran riders had perched, raised is gun and whooped. With a mixture of loud whoops and screeches, the riders released from the walls and dove through the sky.

"All right brother, I'm going to punch a hole and you follow through!" Jake pressed is com to speak to Tsu'tey.

Hearing Tsu'tey's response, Jake angled his steed into a steep spiral dive toward the swarm of machines. Roaring with battle in his blood, Jake reared back as Tourk extended its talons and grasped the tail of one of the gunships. With all its strength, Tourk whipped the chopper in the air like a toy sending it crashing into the side of a mountain. Tsu'tey followed through the swarm hollering as he unloaded an arrow into the cockpit of another Scorpion. The pilot jolted as the arrow stuck him to his seat through his torso and slumped motionless. Neytiri hit her mark when she swooped past a Samson. The rest of the riders followed as they darted through the formation; sending more arrows crashing into the canopies and clasping to other choppers sending them spinning out of control.

On the ground, a legion of riders charged through the foliage toward the advancing soldiers. Whooping to each other, they readied their weapons as they began to close the distance. Norm, riding a horse with his own face paint on him, swung his machine gun forward, ready to let loose. As they got into the range, the entire line of mercenaries exploded into a wall of lead. The riders began to drop one by one as they came closer to the line; many of them firing an arrow off before they were flung off their horse. Many of the arrows missed but some managed to strike at the troops staking them to the ground. With a grunt, Norm pressed the trigger and let loose his own barrage of bullets at the line.

Jake knew now their moment of surprise was up as he saw the gunships break formation and the sky erupted into a fur ball. He could see the agile Scorpions maneuver and spray the oncoming ikrans with their guns. The hunters maneuvered to score some shots at the cockpits and clasp themselves to the ships to take them down. Then the Scorpions unleashed their payload of missiles into the air. Though they have lost fire-and-forget capability, the missiles still dealt a massive blow as they slammed into the walls of the mountains and caught some riders in the explosions. The ikrans and riders fell through air in what can be described as a sky ballet of death. It was pure chaos. The riders who weren't caught in the shooting gallery maneuvered toward the shuttle and let loose a solve of arrows at the pill boxes ingenuously placed atop the hull only to be cut down by the gunners while many of their arrows staked harmlessly into the sandbags.

In the opened cargo bay, the soldiers manned the gun emplacements placed on the upper ramp and let loose on the riders who turned around the corner. Neytiri turned the corner, cocked her bow, and, without being shot, hit her mark sending the gunner down onto the platform.

Jake moved in and screamed out as his steed grabbed another gunship and swung it around toward one of the shuttle's escorts. He saw the gunship slice through the Samson and both aircraft exploded as debris fell and clucked off the shuttle's hull. Jake then swung around and unleashed a volley of bullets from his gun into another gunship's cockpit, killing the pilot.

On the ground, the fight wasn't any better. In fact it was considerably worse. Norm managed to score a couple of hits on the troops before his steed was shot and he was thrown onto the ground. And if the stream of lead from the soldiers wasn't bad enough, then the Scorpions who broke of from the escort formation unleashing a barrage of rockets on the broken line of blue warriors was the cherry on top. Norm managed to barely get to his feet as the concussions of the rockets rocked the ground.

_DAMN! That's not good._ Jake lost site of a group fleeing riders as a stream of white clouds erupted from and clouded the forest floor.

"JAKE! JAKE! Do copy?" Norm's voice crackled in from ground zero. "We're getting hammered! We're falling back!"

"Alright get out of there!" Jake responded quickly. _Man, this isn't going well._

Just then a 50-ton metal beast appeared from behind one of the floating rocks heading straight toward him.

_Oh! Shit!_ Jake's eyes widened as he hastily reared his steed to the side. He knew Quiratch was aboard it as the Dragon began to maneuver in behind him in pursuit. Seconds later, hundreds of tracers flew passed him and missile after missile crashed into the rocks around him.

_Jesus! He wants my head on a plaque!_ Jake weaved through the tight corners around the rocks to evade the war-machines ordinance. But his luck ran out as he ran out of hiding room and was forced out into the open.

_Shit!_ His oversized bird presented a big fleshy target to the blood hungry machine's guns. But, with convenient timing, a Samson with blue stripes painted on its sides swooped in behind the Dragon and strafed the length of the hull. The action was enough to divert the crew's attention to allow Jake to move safely out of the line of fire.

"Oops," Trudy exclaimed as she swung the aircraft around. She wore blue paint on her eyelids. She had managed to have a couple of shots with her mounted Hydra machine guns at some of the escorts before coming to Jake's aid. It seemed suicidal to think she would stair face to face with an oversized weapon monster as if she was asking for a head-to-head shoot out. The gunship fired first and Trudy maneuvered to the side to evade. She circled around a column of rocks she put between her and the Coronel's toy. Though her Samson was sluggish compared to the nimble Scorpion, she maneuvered her ship with relative ease and skill. When she had an opening in the rocks she let loose a barrage from her guns. She managed to score some close hits at the cockpit causing the pilot and the backseat driving officer to become temporarily disoriented.

"You're not the only one with the gun bitch!" She said to herself.

But the taunting was about to take its toll as the Dragon unleashed a volley of missiles. They flew wildly and detonated mere meters from her canopy. She twitched her head as the shockwaves rattled her seat. Another volley of missiles followed and forced her to maneuver out into the open. A stream of tracers ran up her hull and ignited her portside engine. She knew she was in trouble now. She pulled hard back on the stick and spun the wounded aircraft away from the fire fight behind another formation of rocks.

Jake didn't see anything happen as he worked his way through the hovering mountains to gain altitude and find his way back into the fight. But he was yet to realize the fight was about to vanish before him.

Down below, Neytiri drove Seze down through the canopy, desperately trying to shake off a perusing Samson that had her on the ropes. She maneuvered through the growth and cleared a large branch that obscured the narrow flying space. She looked back as the chopper pulled up to get clear of the branch and climbed to find a better angle to pursue her. But as she turned her head around, 30 millimeter rounds fired from an AMP suit on the ground tore through Seze's wings and gut. Neytiri screamed as she felt her ikran shutter from the impact. She wasn't hurt but she felt the ikran's pain surge through her queue and impact her mind. She didn't know what happened when her ikran tore through the canopy and she was tossed into the air and tumbled onto the ground.

"Seze!" When she regained her senses Neytiri fled toward the winged beast that lay slumped over a log. She shook the creature but it still remained motionless. Everything was happening too fast for her to understand. Pain and sadness overwhelm her from the sight of the creature whom was hers for years lying died before her. That the feeling was joined by fear as a concussion shook the earth around her. All around her, Neytiri saw warriors falling to the ground as they tried to flee the scene. She saw a direhoarse and rider flip end-over-end from an explosion that erupted behind them. She felt scared.

High above, Tsu'tey launched himself from his Ikran and yelled out a battle cry as he launched his arrow into one of the cargo bay gunners' chest. He rolled as he impacted the metal platform of the bay ramp and hastily grabbed another soldier and threw him out into air and then bashed another's head with his bow. Again and again, he took out the soldiers in his path screaming in rage as he did. He clobbered another and saw one last solider left. He drew his blade and ran toward him. But the solider was ready first as he screamed when he riddled Tsu'tey's chest with a dozen rounds from his gun. Tsu'tey felt his breath disappear when his body jerked violently from the impact of the bullets. Overwhelmed by pain, he fell, rolled down the ramp and fell from sight.

Down below, Norm turned around and knelt to fire more bursts at the oncoming enemy onslaught. But as soon as he finished his second burst, he grunted in pain as the impact of gun fire knocked him to the ground. When the initial shock was over Norm fought against the overwhelming pain to move his body. Barely keeping his mind focused from the cloud of pain, he saw an AMP suit walking right toward him. He crawled to where his gun landed and grabbed it. He pulled the gun up with all his effort to put the barrel up at the suit. The last thing he remembered was a deafening cannon sound and a blinding flash. The next thing he realized was him emerging from his link pod with an overwhelming shock surging through his body as he tumbled onto the floor.

"Rouge one is hit, I'm going in. Sorry Jake."

The blazing Samson tumbled violently through the air. Trudy tried to control it as best she could but she finally realized that her baby wasn't combat-capable anymore. She had refused to take part in destroying a large tree while men, women and children were in the line of fire. She defied her employers by breaking the traitors from the brig and flew them out. Now it seemed she was about to go down guns blazing. She felt disappointed because she could have done more for them. But she did feel satisfied because she fought for something she chose to fight for. That was enough for her. Trudy looked out the cockpit and saw the Dragon emerge from high above and saw it launch a missile that came screaming straight at her and her tumbling baby. She took in the moments as she watched the missile close the distance.

_Well… it's been fun._

Neytiri felt another concussion rock the ground and the last thing she saw of this horror was a direhorse engulfed in flames running through the charred landscape. She felt defeated and lost. It was too much for her to take. She felt it consume her as she rested her head next to her beloved steed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>I am very sorry I haven't updated this for a very long while. Collage is really hard. Anyway, I'm on break and I finally have time to sit down and continue the series. Keep an eye out; chapter 8 will be close behind, I promise. Hope you like it and, as always, a review would make my day. :)


	8. Finish the fight

Finish the fight

"Tsu'tey! Brother do you read? ...Rouge one do you copy? Trudy! ...Norm, 'you there?"

Silence. Jake was alone. He felt the canyon grew wider as he soared through the empty air. He could see in the distance the shuttle and still a vast number of escorts closing in on the helpless Tree of Souls. All of the warriors whom he lead into battle were either dead or fleeing.

He knew he couldn't give up now, not after everything he'd been through. But how would he be able to stop them? Those escorts would zero their weapons on his fleshy steed as soon as he moved in. All that he worked for, all that he believed in was counting on this. He watched as his chance was fleeting before his eyes.

"JAKE!" He recognized the voice that shouted in his ear immediately and responded.

"I read you!" He was relieved to here at least someone was still alive, more importantly her. Her voice was choking with exhaustion. "Neytiri."

"Saza is dead. They're are very close, there are many."

On the ground, Neytiri slumped down the tree she took cover behind as the advancing troops crept closer, clearing away the foliage in their path.

"Do not attack!"

She heard his voice crackle in her ear piece but she didn't heed to it. She couldn't think. All that was on her mind was to keep fighting.

"Do you read me Neytiri? Do not attack!"

She inhaled uneasily as she slowly she readied her bow and put an arrow through the string. She looked over her shoulder to spot the targets.

"Fall back now! Get out of there now! That's an order!"

She heard her mate screaming in her ear but she paid no attention as she leveled the bow. She knew that defeat was coming. She knew that her people were going to fail. She had lost all her hope again. She felt lost within herself. She didn't feel anything. She felt helpless. But unlike before, she did have some power within her; power to hurt her tormenters one last time before she would be inevitably consumed by their unending hunger. She pulled back on her bow and lined up her shot. Her hands trembled as she prepared to let go and take one more life.

Suddendly, time stood still the next moment. The troops suddenly halted and leveled their weapons to the distance behind Neytiri. Confused, she withdrew her angle of attack and slide behind the tree. She heard something. At first she didn't know what it was only that it was growing louder. She began to realize what it was; thunder, but in the ground. As it grew, she could feel where it was coming from. Her eyes locked onto the foliage in front of her. She didn't notice the uneasiness and potential fear on the sky people's faces as they all waited. Seconds felt like minutes.

Then, the foliage before her was torn away as a herd of hammerheads charged through. Neytiri only stood where she was as the hammerheads charged right passed her toward the formation of troops. The AMP suites unleashed their canons but their guns were useless as the creatures shrugged off the shells and slammed the suites into the air like bowling pins when struck by the ball. Foot solders panicked and some even screamed as they turned around and ran for the hills. From behind her, more creatures joined the charge; sturmbeests, viperwolves and thanators advanced toward the completely shattered line of screaming marines.

She couldn't believe her eyes as she tapped her intercom and breathlessly muttered "Jake… Ewya has heard you!"

_What?_ At first, he had no idea what the hell she was talking about. But then his eyes locked onto the mountains as a swarm of rider-less ikrans emerged and flew toward the convoy. He was in pure aw as well from the scene.

"EYWA HAS HEARD YOU!" Neytiri raised her bow as she roared into the intercom. All the misery that had consumed her only seconds before was now replaced by pure energy as her will to fight suddendly shot back up. She joined the creatures in their charge at the fleeting pockets of shattered Sky people.

Jake watched as the thousands of ikrans closed in on the helpless convoy. The gunners did everything they could but the waves grew too fast to be stopped. The ikrans clasped onto the airships sending them out of control. Many of the ikrans reached their razor lined mandibles into the cockpits and cargo bays and sent airmen, or parts of them, falling through the sky. They were broken. This was what he needed! It seemed that prayer he made last night was indeed worth it after all.

_My god, YES! Alright, time to show these motherfuckers who their dealing with!_

"COME OOOON!" Jake roared as he turned his creature toward the overwhelmed furball of falling vehicles.

The Viperwolves closed in on the helpless troops. Many of the troops pointed their guns behind them to fire frantic bursts to fend off their pursuers as they ran but it did them little good as the wolves pounced upon them. They screamed as the vicious alien dogs sunk their teeth and claws into the fabric of their armor and flesh. Umong the hunters who closed in on their pray, Neytiri quickly leveled her bow and took a shot at the retreating troops. Then she saw something land on the ground from the corner of her eye. A thanator poised itself before her. She inhaled a breath as she saw the ferocious beast gracefully bow its head before her showing no aggressive intentions.

It took only minutes for the remainder of the flight of aircraft to be shattered. Every vehicle turned and made their attempts to escape. Everyone, except the two biggest and ugliest ones. The Valkrie and Dragon brushed aside the winged monsters like flies. It was just mire seconds away from clearing the arches and dropping the doomsday device into the life of the entire world. With the defenses broken and the confusion ensuing, Jake moved in.

He swooped in behind the shuttle and, when he got close enough, bailed off Tourk. Coming out of his roll on the top of the ship's hull, he ran to the nearest pillbox. Some of the pillboxes repealed the swarming beasts but others were overwhelmed or couldn't get an angle on the beasts before it was too late. A gunner from the pillbox Jake was heading to saw Jake approaching and turned his gun to take a shot. Jake was ready first as he fired a burst and the gunner dropped. Jake yelled as he put his foot on the lip of the sand bags, leapt over the box and unloaded what was left in his gun into the rest of the troops. Discarding the now empty weapon, Jake turned and ran to the port side thruster. Pulling a grenade from his harness, he pulled the pin and tossed the pair of explosives up into the air intake. Jake hastily moved from the engine and leaped off the massive hull of the ship where Tourk was waiting for him. Landing on the creature's shoulders again, Jake reestablished his connection and distanced the creature clear of the Shuttle. Looking back, Jake saw the grenades detonate.

Inside the cargo bay, the soldiers pushed the first box of mining explosives down the ramp. They were just about to let it go and let gravity slide the bomb down the ramp when the shuttle suddenly shuddered. The whole ship fell portside violently. The solders fell off their feet and slid up the platform. The first box suddenly reversed its momentum as it slid back into the bay. It came at a towering rate as it came on a collision course with the other block. An unlucky solider slid in front of the second block as the first closed the distance. His scream was abruptly silenced as the two boxes slammed into each other and slide to the back of the bay.

The Valkrie tumbled through the air as it took a steep dive from the loss of its engine. The pilots struggled to level the air craft but their efforts were short lived as the Valkrie leveled off next to an arch. Unable to move clear, the Valkrie's left wing collided with the arch was clipped right off. With flight impossible, the massive obit-to-surface ship tumbled head first and impacted the ground with a massive crunch of metal. Seconds later, its cargo ignited.

What resulted was a gargantuan white flash followed by an earth rattling, heaven rocking explosion. Jake observed the massive cloud of earth and fire as the concussion shook him and his steed. Once he could see clearly, he saw a silhouette of a metal beetle shaking in the white flash from the explosion.

_One down, one to go_. The first threat was taken care of. But it wasn't wasn't over yet. He knew that that metal beast still carried enough firepower to level an area the size of Manhattan in less than six seconds. He turned his steed and swooped in behind the aircraft whose crew was still shaken from the sudden loss of their present for the "Savages".

As the Dragon's crew was regaining their bearings, Jake moved around an arch and closed in on the gunship from behind. He leaped off of Tourk and rolled as he impacted the hull. He pulled out the last of his grenades and pulled both pins as he sprinted to the front of the craft. As he closed in on the port air intake, he flicked the pines off as he readied to toss them into the engine. But the aircraft swerved abruptly to the right and Jake lost his balance just as the grenades left his hands. Clunking harmlessly off the side of the engine, both grenades missed the intake and rolled along with Jake as he was thrown to the starboard side of the aircraft. Hitting the other engine, he saw his grenades roll across the metal. One of them fell off and disappeared but the other managed to get caught in one of the ships air intakes. Instinctively, Jake impulsively leapt off the side of the aircraft. He managed to grab onto the Dragons portside missile rack and kept himself from falling off the aircraft. Then…

_KABLAM!_

Jake saw the grenade explode and saw a meter wide hole in the armorplating. It did kill some of the pilots inside but the aircraft was still flyable. Dangling from the missile rack Jake fought the g-forces of the violently jerking aircraft. He still needed to bring this monstrosity down. Thinking quickly, Jake pulled himself up, wrapped his arm around one of the missiles and, with his weight, separated it from the rail. Getting a firm grip on the missile, Jake climbed up the rack to the top where he got a clear view of the rudders of the ship. Getting a footing on the side of the rack, Jake readied himself for an idea that was crazy but could work. Just then he heard something and saw a piece of metal pop off the aircraft. The time was now.

Letting himself loose, Jake swung the missile around. He let it go just as a pistol round clanked off the rack and another whizzed by just inches from his head. Jake dropped from the aircraft as the missile lobbed over the shroud and fell into the rotors. The blades impacted the missile and from the violent impact of metals, another explosion erupted.

Jake saw the entire rotor ripped to pieces and the side of the aircraft caught fire as he plumpeted. He fought to steady himself as he fell as he crashed through the canopy. Impacting the branches and vines, Jake tumbled as the obstacles slowed his fall. Managing to gain control, he impacted some giant leaves and managed to hop from one to another as they allowed him to fall to the ground at a slower speed. As the ground finally came Jake managed to impact the ground and rolled himself to absorb the impact.

He was amazed at himself for a moment but he pushed it aside right away. He looked up and watched the burning, out of control aircraft rip through the top of the canopy. Jake listened to the burning sounds as the Dragon disappeared from his site. He heard more explosions coming from the unseen aircraft and it all lead to the sound of a giant clunk of flames and metal in the distance. Jake exhaled and closed his eyes.

_Down she goes._


	9. How can this be happaning to me?

How can this be happening to me?

"OK! What the hell is going on out there guys?"

Selfridge was trying so hard to conceal his uneasiness as he heard report after report of troops under attack coming from the officers in the control center. Every frantic command sent Selfridge closer to his edge. Problems for them meant even more problems for him.

All he wanted was for those savage people to get out of the way so they could make the mining more effective to please the company and their share holders. If they didn't, it would be his ass on the line. He got what he wanted in a brutal stroke of fire. He saw it happen; he could feel something in his gut as he looked at the mighty tree in shambles and flame. But he worked hard to stow it away as he told the guards to pull the plug and proceed with his operation.

But the problems were only starting and were about to get worse for him. When the traitors were sprung loose and the report came that a massive army was gathering and an attack on the gate would be imminent, full mobilization commenced. Not only was every aircraft planned to go in the air, but every able bodied worker who was healthy, unhurt and could aim a gun were plucked for the assault. Handling the use of aircraft and replacing the expensive equipment was bad enough but having resources pulled from the mining operations would cause bigger risks.

"This is out of control! Hey, I am not authorizing you to turn mine workers local into a freakin' militia!" he protested to Quaritch as he was getting the equipment ready for his assault.

"I declared threat level red, that puts all on world assets under my command." He simply stated.

"Oh, you think you can pull this shit on me? I can have your ass… with one phone call!"

Before he knew it, Selfridge found his head locked in the Coronal's rock hard hands. His anger and frustration disappeared instantly and fear took over.

"You're a long way from earth." the Coronal said with a twisted and intimidating face. He then released the fragile business man from his grasp when he more than made his point.

Selfridge was making progress and handled everything with the company's authority. But authority had no power when it came to physical might, he found out. Insulting was an understatement of what described what happened to him.

Amidst the chaos of the com traffic, something managed to catch Selfridge's eye. Outside on the airfield a vehicle was rolling in their direction. He moved to the window to get a better look. It was a slash cutter; a crane-like vehicle with a rotating blade on the end of the arm to clear out foliage. He squinted as he focused his eyes on the driver seat. He could see that the driver had dark skin and black hair and wore glasses. It was Max Patel. He saw Max raise a hand and stuck up a finger from it; his middle finger. Then Selfridge saw the scientist pull a lever and a giant rotating blade emerged into view coming… right… at… him.

"OOOOOH, SHIT!"

Selfridge turned 180 degrees, tucked his head and sprinted in the opposite direction as the blade made contact with the windows. Everyone dove for cover as the blade moved forward, shredding through its obstacle and shooting debris left and right. Amidst the shower of glass and metal, Selfridge ran across the platform, into his office, vaulted himself over his desk and took cover under it. The pressurization alarms rung out as the poisonous air flowed into the chamber. Immediately, the shocked personnel went for their masks. Those who didn't have one handy took their pocket sized filters and breathed through their mouths.

With his mask on, a trembling Selfridge slowly brought his head up and peaked over his desk. He saw the blade retreat through the massive hole it created in the side of the control center and a number of tall blue figures climbed into view. The avatars. One of the officers yelled to bring their weapons up but his words were cut short as the avatars fired their machine guns above the workers' heads causing them to duck down to the deck. Selfridge ducked behind his desk as a dozen rounds punctured the back wall and shattered a number of his display stands.

"Everyone stay down! Don't move!" The avatars shouted out as they advance forward into the ruined center keeping their guns on the powerless operators and officers. Two of them walked across into the wasted office. When they came to the desk, they found a little business man curled on the floor fidgeting with adrenalin and shocked with fear.

"OK! Ple-please! Ju-just stop sh-shoot-sh-shooting!"

"Give me a reason…Prick!"

* * *

><p>100 yards away, Matt stood on the tarmac in amazement as he watched the rouge slash cutter at work. With virtually no guards in Hell's Gate, it was the perfect time for someone to pounce on helpless prey. This was an unexpected event that he didn't see coming. But it was satisfying and it might be just what he needed for the reason he was here.<p>

_My god… there might be hope after all._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> From deleted scenes: Avatars attack and You're a long way from earth.


	10. It's not over

It's not over...

The air rushed over Neytiri's face as she rode the mighty thanator through the jungle. Her eyes scoured through the foliage searching for targets. She hadn't heard from Jake since she told him that help was on their side and she only hopped he was ok and that the people were safe. She had heard, and felt, a massive explosion rock the ground moments before. That worried her a bit. Jake had told her and the warriors that a _shah-tell_ would be carrying a giant bomb and its target was the tree of souls. She didn't know if the explosion was from the bomb detonating in the well and obliterating everyone and everything in it or if the aircraft was taken down and crashed somewhere else when the bomb blew up. She didn't think about it because either way she was going to kill any sky person she would encounter either for vengeance or to tie up any loose ends.

From some yards away, she saw two glints of metal in the distance. As she moved in, she made out the two shapes. One was a "Shield that walks" with its gun leveled and ready to fire on the shack where she helped Jake take Grace from when they attempted to save her life. She closed in on the AMP suit and when she was close enough, the ferocious creature leaped. At the last moment the machine turned around.

Quaritch, who managed the escape the dragon in his AMP suit, raised his gun up and barely forced the creature over his head. Neytiri lunged again and Quaritch pushed the creature behind him. He brought his cannon up afterward but by the time he squeezed the trigger Neytiri's steed tackled and pinned him to the ground. Neytiri roared loudly as the thanator's claws grasped the cannon and bashed it against a rock. Quaritch rocked around the cockpit as the alien cat shattered the gun in two. He managed to land a punch on the creature and got to his feet. Neytiri kept wrestling violently with the persistent driver landing some blows while barely managing not to be clobbered off the thanator by the AMP's metal fists. After a number of blows, Quaritch threw the beast aside and drew the AMP's blade and stood ready for another attack.

"Come on, come to papa!"

And sure enough, Neytiri did. She lunged forward and the colonel caught the creature and stabbed it while his other hand held it in front of him. Again and again the colonel sent the blade into the beasts belly until he threw it and it's rider to the ground. He then leapt into the air and plunged his knife deep into the creature's innards. For good measure, he twisted the knife and saw the creature's body go limp.

Neytiri struggled to move herself with the dead beast pinning her to the ground. She grunted loudly as she jerked around trying to free herself. Quaritch withdrew his blood soaked knife from the corpse and faced the helpless hostile pinned under it. But Neytiri did not show her fear as she gave an angry hiss at him indicating she will die annoyed but not afraid.

"Give it up Quaritch!"

Jake made it to the scene just in time. When he saw the Dragon fall he had a feeling it wasn't over. Quaritch wouldn't have given up the fight so easily. Jake made it to the scene just as Quaritch threw the blooded thanator to the ground and plunged the blade into its guts. When he saw Neytiri stuck under the heavy corpse, and the AMP suit ready to strike, he had to take the attention of the aggressor.

"It's all over." He told the colonel.

Quaritch flipped his knife and held it ready.

"Nothing's over while I'm breathing!"

"I kind'a hoped you'd say that."

_Let's dance!_

As both opponents advanced, Jake grabbed the barrel of the severed cannon and brought it up to block the colonel's attack. Moving with light feet, Jake stepped around the machine dodging and blocking the colonel's powerful blows. Eventually, the coronal lunged forward and Jake manged to catch his blade between the cannon's stability handle and twisted it until the blade snapped off from the hilt. With his weapon useless, Quaritch tossed it aside and swung his suits meat fists around at the blue pest. Jake dodged each blow and manged to land some quick jabs on the glass of the cockpit. Then Jake slipped behind the suit, hopped upon a formation of roots and leapt high up toward his opponent. As he descended, he thrust the blade down hard right into the cockpit windshield. Jake pivoted over the AMP suit and landed behind it. The suit's arms still moved which meant the pilot was still alive.

_Come on!_

The blade of the cannon barrel had stopped only inches from Quaritch's heart. He moved his suit's arms to grasp the barrel and inhaled deeply before he pulled it out. As the pressurization alarms rung in the cockpit, the colonel swung around and threw the barrel toward Jake. He ducked as it whooshed pasted and cracked the window of shack. Jake looked back to see the window and was relieved to see it didn't break through.

With his vision blurred from the shatter glass shield, Quaritch came aimlessly at Jake. Jake moved around out of the way to keep his distance from him. Then the colonel stopped and stood still.

"Come on!" Jake yelled at the colonel.

A few seconds later, the machine's arms went limp and fell to their sides. After that, the shattered canopy popped off and landed just beside Jake. Quaritch moved his hands freely and acquired his emergency exopack and breathed deeply as he activated the filter. While Quaritch readjusted himself and reengaged the arm control, Jake drew his knife and stood ready for one more clash.

"Hey Sully," Quaritch said with a sadistic smirk. "How's it feel to betray your own race?"

_Go fuck yourself!_

Jake responded with a long angry hiss with his blazing eyes glaring right at him.

"You think your one of them?" Quaritch asked, "Time to wake up!"

An instant later, Jake's eyes that blazed with fury grew wide with horror when he saw Quaritch turn around to the cracked window.

_Oh shit!_

Before Jake could stop him, Quaritch punched through the glass crushed the link bed that lay in front of it. Alarms sounded and lights flashed as the colonel wedged himself into the structure to lift the pod's hatch open only to find nothing. He withdrew from the window and proceeded to the next only to be distracted by Jake who leapt onto his back. Quaritch waved his arms violently over his head trying to get him off. Jake held on tightly as he was flailed back and forth while dodging the enormous fits. When he was able to get a sold grip, he roared as he swung his knife down toward the colonel's neck. Quaritch moved his head to the side just in time as the blade stuck into the head rest only inches to the side of his neck. Jake felt frustrated again but it was short when he felt a force pull at the back of his head. Quaritch managed to grab Jake's queue and swung his arm toward the ground. Jake felt himself jerk violently as he was flipped forward and slammed into the dirt. When he came out of the impact he tried to get up but he vision started to blur. Then he felt as if his body was going completely numb. He felt a violent disturbance in him then all of a sudden everything went black.

Jake's eyes shot open and to see the top of the link pod chamber. He breathed and felt the air burning the inside of his nostrils and his throat. The Pandoran air flowed in from the broken window and seeped into the link where Jake laid in. He couldn't think in the haze of poisonous gas but he managed to force himself to inhale a big breath and held it as he focused his mind back into the link.

Jake opened his eyes again and gasped as his avatar lurched back to life. He tried to move but before he could a metal hand force him back down to the dirt. Then Jake felt the hand grasp his queue and lifted up. Jake screamed in pain as his body was pulled up from the stem of his queue. Jake hands grabbed the queue as he tried to release the force that pulled at the back of his skull. He looked up and saw the colonel hovering in front of him. Quartich held Jake right in front of the cockpit only mire feet from his face. His bloodshot eyes glared right at into Jake's filled with anger and desire to get payback for what he did. With the other his free hand, the colonel slowly grasped Jake's knife that embedded into the head rest and pulled it out. With it free, he slowly brought it up to Jake's neck. Jake looked painfully into the colonel's blood lusted eyes as he felt the blade rest on his throat. He tried his best not to give the colonel the pleasure of fear. Then everything suddenly went haywire and the last thing Jake knew before he lose conciseness was the image of Quaritch jerking violently and a seeing an oversized arrow staked through his torso.

Over the course of the dual, Neytiri worked hard to free herself from the thanator corpse. She was on the verge of freeing herself when she saw Jake dangling from his queue in front of the AMP suit driver. As quickly as she could, she leapt over the log she was pinned against and ran to her bow. Smoothly, she loaded one of her two remaining arrows onto the string and pulled back lining up the shot. Just as the sky person put the blade to Jake's throat, she released. The arrow moved straight through the air as it cleanly impacted the sky person's torso. He jerk violently and dropped the dagger and the suit's arm holding Jake loosened and Jake fell free to the ground and flopped onto is back.

Quaritch stood in disbelief as he looked at his hands which grasped the arrow. The suit arms mimicked his feeble movements. His vision lost focus and lost the feeling of his extremities. From a distance he saw blue blur swipe across his vision. Once his vision refocused, he saw the blur turn into a blue female warrior aiming her bow at him. Then another arrow flung off it and streaked right at him. The arrow shattered through the suit's display screen and embedded itself into his torso again. His arms flailed again from the impact as the pain shocked his entire body. Then the pain disappeared as his arms came to the arrow again. His mouth locked open has his last breath escaped from it. The last thing he saw was the women prance forward and crouch down with a knife in hand before him in front of Sully's body.

Neytiri watched the driver's body go limp and came to his knees. The suit and the driver fell to the ground, dead.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> Hey everyone. I know I haven't been uploading this often. College is hard work and lately I've had a hard time staying committed to writing this story and I apologize. The next chapters will be on their way shortly. After the next 2 chapters, it will take a little time because I have to plan for how I will structure the rest of the story and to make it believable. But don't worry, when summer comes I will spend some serious time on this.

One last thing, I really love the reviews that are coming. All I ask is that you give me something more than just "This is good" or "You have potential" because I don't know what specifically I'm good at. I'd really appreciate it if you give me specifics in reviews like what was good, what could have been done better, what parts you thought were amazing, how you think I'm dipicting each specific character or whatever. It's those reviews that inspire me to write more of this story. It Just started as an Idea in my head then it lead to this experience that I am creating and sharing with everyone. If you want to make some suggestions on how I should approach my plot, go right ahead and give me some Private messages because I may need a little bit of advice on some things.

Please share this to your friends. Keep the reviews coming and thank you so much for the support and see you soon!


	11. I see you

I see you

Jake burst open the link cover as the pandoran air infected his lungs. His body surged from shock as each breath sent his mind into a spiral of confusion and disorientation. He needed a mask and fast. He leaned to his side and saw the emergency exopack hanging on the wall. He moved his hand to crawl out of the link and pushed aside his wheel chair. He tried to reach out and get to the box but it was too far away. His body tumbled out of the bed and landed flat on the floor_. _He breathed in another gulp of poisonous air as his frail body with two useless bone-thin legs surged on the metal floor.

Neytiriexhaled after see saw the metal monster fall dead. The danger was gone. Immediately, she turned around to Jake's body. She threw her bow and knife to the ground and bent down to Jake and put her hands around his head. She called out his name as she moved his head around to find any trace that he was still alive. She felt desperate as she called his name again and again and kept shaking him. After all the miracles that happened for her and the people, she began to feel that maybe both of them would make it through this ordeal alive. But now it seemed that the miracles have ended at the worst possible time.

Jake pulled himself with the little strength he had to the wall. With another gulp of intoxicating air, Jake pulled himself up a pipe to get to the exopack. He could feel his strength deplete with every second. His hand made it to the plastic cover of the holding box and he just barely grasped the rim of the mask with the tips of his fingers. His body was failing fast. He needed to get the mask on him now. With the small shards of energy he had left he pulled on the mask and tried to shack it loose from the hook. He pulled again and again. But he failed.

Jake collapsed onto the floor as his strength vanished. The mask that he lost grip on came loose and dangled next to him. He didn't notice it nor did he have the energy to lift his arm to grab it. He lay broken as he panted rapidly and his body began to shut down. His eyes began to flash with lights before his mind felt darkness consume his conscious.

Neytiri was scared. Jake resembled no living features whatsoever. He lay as if lifeless. But amidst the panic, Neytiri managed to calm herself enough to think.

_...The machines that I and other dreamwalkers go into place our sprits into these bodies..._

_...during a battle, I was hit. After I recovered, I couldn't feel my legs and I couldn't walk again..._

Her eyes widened and she gasped as her head swiveled behind her. Immediately, she sprinted to the shack. She came to the window and her hands impacted the glass. She caught a glimpse of a figure lying on the floor through it. She turned to her left and came to the one that was broken. Panting and moaning desperately, Neytiri vaulted herself into the confined space and moved to the limp body on the metal floor. She crouched down and cradled the figure into her arms.

"Jake! Ma Jake!"

She shook Jakes body but no response came from him. Her mind raced through what she learned about the Sky people. She looked to her side and saw a mask dangling beside her. Immediately she took a hold of it and slid it onto Jake's head. She froze as she released the mask. She waited and she held her breathe.

Every second seemed like an hour and each one felt like torture. Tension built inside her from a thought that grabbed hold of her mind. Could she have gotten here seconds earlier? Would he still have been moving and clearly alive if she had? The thoughts clung to her as regret began to tie a knot into her throat. She felt almost helpless.

Jake suddenly felt himself choke and gag back to reality. He felt a mask upon his face and his arms moved erratically. His hand managed to grasp the activation valve and squeezed it. Clean air flowed into his nostrils and throat. He inhaled giant breaths and felt life flow back into his body. He felt himself being cradled in a figure's arms and it looked down at him.

Neytiri's body released with relief as she her breath flowed from her mouth. A smile grew from her face as she saw Jake breath back to life in her arms. She saw him look up at her and she knew it was him. His figure seemed small and vulnerable. His face had the features that differed so much from that of the Na'vi. But when she looked into his blue eyes, it was undeniable that they were those of Jake Sully; the dremwalker, the warrior, the person, the mate of Neytiri.

Jake saw Neytiri look at him with a smile of relief and joy. He remembered the image her face when he saw her through the eyes of his avatar and looking up at her now made that image even more clear and even more real. A smile came to his face when he remembered the times where she saved his life a number of times months before. This time was different because she wanted to save him. And she did. He lifted up his arm up and placed it onto the side of her face. Her skin didn't feel any different from when he felt it in his other life. Though his hand was so small, he still could still feel the distinguishable marks of her unique face.

Neytiri took her own hand and held it on top of his. His small hand felt rugged in her palm but it didn't matter. Her emotion projected clearly through her eyes as she still looked into Jake's blue eyes behind the reflection of the mask.

"I see you." he said with a true voice as he looked into her two unique and mesmerizing eyes. She smiled as she shed two tears from both of them.

"I see you."


	12. Blood

Blood

_Oel Ngati Kameie… Jakesully!_

_I see you, brother._

_Are…are the people safe?_

_They're safe._

_*koff*I cannot lead the people. You must lead them._

_I'm not officer material._

_It is decided. Now do the duty of __Olo'eyctan__._

_I'm not going to kill you._

_It is the way.__I will be remembered. I fought with Toruk Makto. We were brothers. And he was my last shadow._

* * *

><p>The air was tainted with ash and the stench of rotting flesh. The ground was charred black and stained red with the blood that was paid. A direhoarse laid burned black. A blue warrior lay frozen on the ground with his chest riddled with a dozen bullet holes. Another lay with an arm and leg blown away. Her face was torn apart beyond recognition save one open eye staring aimlessly at the sky. An AMP suit lay with the canopy caved in and a soldier hung staked to a tree with an arrow.<p>

Jake held his knife by his side as he observed the scene.

Earlier, a warrior came and found the scene of the dual that took place. The warrior was momentarily worried when he saw Tourk Mokto lying motionless on the ground but Neytiri told him that Jake was ok. The warrior told her that they found Tsu'tey and he was badly wounded. He with his emergency exopack on, Jake restarted the calibrations to his link unit and regained control of his avatar.

In his miserable state, Tsu'tey entrusted his position as clan leader to Jake. Jake didn't take to the promotion too well but Tsu'tey insisted. Then as a final request, Tsu'tey begged Jake to put him out of his misery. Jake nearly lost it and refused at first but Tsu'tey still insisted. He told Jake he was honored to fight alongside him. Not only to fight with Tourk mokto; but to fight alongside a brother. With what was left of his will, Jake obliged and watched Tsu'teys eyes as the life in them evaporated. After he managed to recite the Na'vi ritual, he told Neytiri and the rest of the warriors who accompanied them to head back to camp. Jake then wondered through the silent battlefield alone.

He raised his knife up to his eyes and looked at the curves of the blade and saw a single drop of blood fall from the tip and land on the charred dirt. Jake loosened his grip and saw the knife slip through his fingers and stake into the ground.

_So this is how it was going to be, wasn't it?_

The human race discovered this world not long ago. After awhile, they decided to come to it. But what was the real reason for spending millions to build spacecraft to bring people here? Earth's resources were failing and they needed something to keep the economy alive. They found a wonderful rock that lay in the ground of this planet and they decided to dig it out and take it back to earth. But why did they need so much of it? Could they have done something different so they wouldn't need to dig here?

Regardless of what could have been, they still came. They encountered an indecorous race who resided on this world which could harbor life. Instead of humanity being visited by aliens on earth like in the movies, the humans came to another world and met the aliens on their world. Those people were in the way of the company and the precious metal that was the work horse of their planet's overworked economy. Trying to be rational, they talked to the residence first to get them to move out of the way with no blood. But that didn't work as well as they hoped. When diplomacy failed, the duty was to be done by fire. That was done with a mix deception, demoralization and a shit load of destruction and devastation with "minimum casualties".

"_Killing the indigenous looks bad, but there's one thing shareholders hate more than bad press - and that's a bad quarterly statement."_

He saw it unfold from ground zero, seeing the fire unfold with the pain and blood spilled. He knew he couldn't let it continue. It had to stop. Everyone who could fight came with him when he called to them. They all charged and died fighting their adversaries. But what did they die for?

Did they die for their families who would never see them again? Did they die for the honor and glory of a battle that would be sung about for generations to come? Or did they fight because it was the right thing to do?

Jake looked down at a dead RDA solider that had claw marks all over him. Blood pooled around his torn throat and his eyes remained frozen open in terror. What did these ex-grunts fight for? Why would they come all the way from home earth, if it could be called home, up here? Would their families or friends know what they did here?

Jake closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of the tainted air. He picked up the knife afterwards and surveyed the scene one last time. Then he left.

* * *

><p>The warriors who didn't fall in the slaughter had regrouped at the camp. While they were reorganizing, they attended to the wounded and dying. Those who just suffered a bullet to the arm or just some small shrapnel to their leg would live another day. For those who were less fortunate, they could only be sent to Ewya right away.<p>

Jake helped with the little first-aid knowledge he learned in training. Norm was there in his human body tending to the wounded as well. His avatar was shot and possibly killed so he got out of the link and headed out in his human body with the shotgun they managed to pick up when they escaped Hell's Gate to fight the enemy. He didn't encounter any resistance and returned to the shack when he knew it was over. When he returned to the shack, and saw the dead Coronal and the broken window, he went in to see what happened to Jake. He saw from the screen of the link camera that Jake had the emergency exo-pack on in the pod so he knew things were good. While he was in there, he received a message from Max saying that he and the avatars caught Selfridge with his pants down with their visit to the command center and now held them hostage. He told Jake immediately when he met his avatar in the camp. With the base defenseless, Jake ordered every still combat capable warrior to head out to the Hell's gate before the fleeted troops could recover.

Jake worked as hard as he could as he extracted the bullets from the wounds and injected the morpheme and little pain killers they had from the shack. As Jake worked, a memory came back to him; Trudy. He had received no word from her since he heard her voice apologizing for being hit in battle. He knew that meant she was done. There was no word about finding her body or what was left of her Samson.

Jake finished with the last of the lightly wounded as the medical supplies ran low. He walked down to the river. As he did, some of the wounded warriors looked up at him and tried to hide their pain in his presence. Jake kneeled and splashed his face with the water. The paint and the blood of the wounded and his own that clung to his skin dyed the water as it flowed down stream. He looked down at his reflection and saw his skin was clean. He stared at the head in the water; looked at the nose, the cheeks and the eyes. He suddenly began see his face change in the vivid reflection. His face turned into other faces. Faces of other Na'vi. But the chill crept through him when he saw Tsu'teys face and he recognized what these faces were of; the fallen. He closed his eyes and took in a breath to calm himself. He looked into the water again and saw only his reflection. But he saw another image in the water that stood next to his.

Neytiri kneeled down behind him and gently wrapped her arms around him. She had removed her paint as well. She moved her head and placed it right next to his neck. Jake felt her body heat flow through the contact of flesh. The warmth felt so soothing as his mind and body released tension and relaxed. He closed his eyes and took in the feeling before he exhaled and turned his head. She felt the movement and came down to his side and looked into his eyes. She saw the dread in his eyes. Dread from seeing the warriors he lead into battle fall one by one. From the look of the faces of the enemies before they slumped dead with a dozen bullets and of seeing a brother that he never had die at his own hand.

Jake looked back into her eyes and could see the same things he showed her. They both felt the pain of war, of loss and of regret. But they did find relief in seeing each other alive again. After everything that happened, they both remained. Jake moved closer and wrapped his arms around her and she immediately did the same.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> I've been planning this scene long before I actually started A Better Tomorrow. I've really worked hard to try to get the feeling out in my writing for this chapter and I hope you like this. The way I will know is by review. Tell me if I did a good job or needed to work on a couple of things because I really need feedback on how my work is so far.

Anyway, thank you for following the series so far. And as a reminder, I'm not even close to being done yet so there will be plenty to come. I've finished the scenes from the movie so it's going to be purely my imagination from here on and that will take a little time to organize and structure before I write and I've got college to work for so it will take a little while before the next chapter.

So stay tuned, keep the reviews coming, enjoy the rest of the show and enjoy life. :)


	13. You can't do this!

You can't do this!

Jake lay in his seat as he stared out the door of the Samson bay. The mountains in the distance gradually began to connect down to the ground as the aircraft covered more and more distance. He looked at Neytiri who sat uneasily but securely on the other side of the bay next to Jake's avatar that lay limp on the floor.

After about an hour of tending to the wounded, two Samsons flew to the camp with ikran escorts. When they landed, three avatars exited both with medical packs. Jake was a little confused at first but one of the avatars explained. The warriors took the base and the remaining troops surrendered shortly with little resistance. When the base was secure, the avatars, scientists and Na'vi hooked up and rounded the command center personnel, soldiers and the rest of the staff into the mess hall. The bizarre thing was that the two human pilots who were fling the Samsons volunteered to fly them out.

It bamboozled Jake but now wasn't really the time to ask questions. With the shack trashed, he and Norm needed to relocate themselves to a more secure and safer location. Jake disconnected from his avatar, packed up, and waited for the Samsons to pick him up. They loaded up his limp avatar into one of the Samsons and both came to him ten minutes later. Jake was surprised when he saw Neytiri riding in the cargo bay of one of them. She wanted to tag along to keep him and herself company. With everything packed and ready, they went on their way to Hell's gate.

Jake saw the fences of the base emerge from the horizon after twenty minutes of flying. As they cleared the barbed wire, he noticed the tarmac being emptier than he remembered with the aircraft absent. All that remained of the armada that once dominated the skies were three Samsons on the ground, five including the ones that were flying in now. In the opened areas of the pavement were tall blue figures and large horses patrolling perimeter. Over by the facilities, a number of Banshees clung to the outside of the operations center which had a giant hole in the side of it. He could only guess what Selfridge's face must have looked like when Max paid him a visit.

As the choppers descended, a number of figures, tall and small, were waiting below. Jake made out Max Patel in the front and two avatars standing by him. He could tell they were avatars because of the cloths that covered their bodies and both toted a machine gun in front of them. The welcoming wagon, Jake assumed.

The chopper gently floated down and contacted the pavement and the other did the same from behind.

"Good to see you're still in one piece." Max came up to the bay. "Well… _both_ pieces being _whole_."

"And good to see you aren't squashed like a bug." Jake gave back.

Max smiled in response "We need to get inside; someone wants to talk to you."

Jake nodded and pulled his wheel chair out and Max opened it. Jake moved to edge and Max helped him into the chair. As Jake pumped himself forward, he noticed Max didn't follow. He looked back at Max who was looking into the bay. He found that Max was making eye contact with Neytiri when he saw her returning Max's gaze.

"Oh... Max this is Neytiri." Jake rolled up to Max and then looked over to Neytiri who was just exiting the craft. "Neytiri, I would like you to meet Max Petal."

"Uh...I see you." Max struggled but he remembered the formal Na'vi greeting. She returned his greeting with the hand gesture.

From the other chopper, Norm carried his pack with the two avatars that traveled to the camp behind him.

"Hey, can you guys do me favor and carry _me_ to the compound?" Jake asked the avatars and pointed to the chopper which carried his avatar.

"No problem." One of them said. They walked over to the chopper just as the two pilots popped their cockpits and exited. One of the avatars with a gun walked the pilots back to the quarters as the others lifted Jake's avatar out of the bay.

Neytiri looked over at human Jake with a look that meant "Where are they going?" as the last three avatars carefully carried Jake and his pack out the aircraft. Jake rolled out to her.

"They're taking my body to the avatar compound." Jake pointed in the direction of the compound behind the buildings. "It's where the dreamwalkers stay. You should go there and wait. It's the area that that's the friendliest here."

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I need to go inside to discuss some things. I'll be with you in a little bit. I'll try not to be long."

There was a small pause. It broke when Neytiri gave a nod. Jake nodded back, turned his chair and rolled his way back to where Max and Norm were waiting. Neytiri watched as he did. Something struck her as she observed his movement. Then she followed the group of avatars who carefully carried Jake's avatar across the tarmac.

"So those pilots volunteered for that thing?" Jake ask Max just as they were about to enter the airlock. Their original plan was for Trudy to fly them back to Hell's gate and perhaps get some more aid to the wounded if they managed to pull their crazy idea off. But Trudy feared to be dead and they lost their ability to transport the humans back.

"Believe it or not, yes." Max replied

"Why would they do that?" Norm put in.

"I have no Idea." Max replied as they reached the airlock. "But we have something to handle first."

* * *

><p>"You can't do this! You're out of your fucking mind!" Selfridge shouted out.<p>

"Why can't we? We beat you fair and square, did we?" Jake simply replied.

Selfridge stood before Jake, Norm and Max in the middle of bio-lab. A scientist who acquired an assault rifle stood behind Selfridge. Max informed Jake that Selfridge wanted to negotiate things.

"But the... the company will... will…"

"…have a hectic time? Well isn't that the nature of business? I thought companies always have problems and when they lose the upper hand, they're recycled into the market aren't they?" Jake replied back smoothly.

Selfridge shot his eyes back and forth behind his eyelids. He was searching his mind for another excuse. It was funny to see him do so remembering how Selfridge seemed to have all the back up for his reasoning before and he was like a douche bag. Now he was in shambles with nothing to support himself with.

"…No! The economy, you…you'll send it down a shithole if you don't let us-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Jake cut him off. "Since when did you give a fuck about the economy? Last time we talked you wanted to hack down that tree and get your magic rocks just so the shareholders won't bitch about the numbers when they go down."

Selfridge opened his mouth but nothing came out. It was almost he was chocking on the words that dangling from his tongue.

"How could you do this?"

"Do what?"

"How can you side with those goddamn monkeys against your own race?" Selfridge didn't seem afraid anymore. He was angry and so annoyed now. "How could you sacrifice your humanity?"

"Humanity? Humanity? Since when were you an expert on humanity?" Jake replied, he to seemed to lose some of his cool too.

"Those things out there are so stupid that they fight with bows an- " but his words died when he felt himself fall forward to his knees.

Jake lunched out and grabbed Selfridge's torn shirt. He dropped back down into his wheelchair and Selfridge was on his knees before him in Jake's hands. Norm and Max moved forward as they reacted to Jake's sudden movements. They stopped when Selfridge was on the ground and Jake wasn't doing something too irrational.

"You ask why I joined them." Jake muttered in Selfridges face, "It's because I'm a jarhead. It's our duty to help those who need it. After going in like I was ordered to and seeing the circumstances, they needed the help."

Selfridge's face was a mask of fear once again down in Jake's grasp. He felt paralyzed with his hands glued to Jake's wrists unable to release his grip. The fire in Jake's eyes burned into Selfridges own.

"And more importantly, I absolutely hate bullies. You think you have it all and you can go and take anything from anywhere and silence anyone who is in the way. You and you're kind make me sick."

"I-I didn't w-want a war… I-I-I just wanted those people to m-move-"

"Yeah, you might have not wanted bloodshed. And yet you had to piss them off to have an excuse to let that hound off his leash and blow up the fucking tree with women and children in the crossfire. Still think you don't have blood on your hands now?"

"Ok, u-u-ugh…" Selfridge shuddered. "I didn't order Quartich to attack the tree-of-of-whatever it was and kill everyone in it. I just wanted them to move from the big tree to somewhere else. They could find somewhere else to live, right? Isn't that a rational decision?"

"Do you think they will have a place to live after you scrap up every piece of dirt on this planet? It's not going to stop at home tree. It will continue until every inch of this world is burned and pulled apart. These people don't need to suffer from the mistakes you and so many selfish bastards like you made."

Selfridge choked forming his response, "I…I didn't have a choice… I needed to-" but before he could finish his feeble reply, he was suddenly launched backward and he slammed into a desk behind him. He fell to the floor along with a number of loose objects that were on the desk.

"DON'T GIVE ME ANY OF THAT 'I WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS' BULLSHIT!" Jake shouted with his burst of anger. "You always had a choice! You could have chosen not to fuck everything up for those people who lived their own lives on their own planet."

"But if I didn't do it, that would mean I would get…"

"…fired? You could find another job, could you? It doesn't matter what you wanted, it's what you did. You said that I sacrificed my humanity. Well let me tell you this, from what I've seen, those blue skinned people out there are more _human_ than you or anyone who runs this goddamn company. Those warriors fought for their home, for their families, and they died trying to save it all."

Jake leaned forward and looked down at Selfridge who was still sitting on the metal floor, "Let me ask you something? Why are you here? Why were any of those people who toted automatic weapons here? Was it because of leading mankind to a new boundary of exploration or a good will mission for the universe? Or was it because you were climbing the ladder of the company and they were breaking new ground on their salaries?"

Silence took a hold of Selfridge and it carried throughout the lab. Selfridge had nothing. His head was down to the floor and his eyes hung open with darkness consuming them. Jake saw an empty body with nothing inside but a lost soul.

"I thought so."

Jake looked up at the scientist with the gun. "Get him out of here. We don't have anything left to discuss."

* * *

><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> I'm sorry this one came late. I had finals and I'm hunting for summer work and I haven't been up to snuff with my writing lately. But don't worry, I'm hard at work on the next chapter and I will have it up by the beginning of next month. **I promise**. Stay tuned because next chapter some questions will be answered. Enjoy the show, review and enjoy life. :)


	14. The Plan

The Plan

_Hey Sully, how's it feel to betray your own race?_

_The economy… You'll send it down a shit hole…_

* * *

><p>Jake sat in his wheelchair. Max sat in a chair he pulled up. Norm leaned on a nearby desk. All had their heads were bent down in silence. After minutes that felt like hours, Jake broke the ice with a deep sigh.<p>

"As much as I hate that son of a bitch, he has a point."

"The Na'vi would have all died eventually if we didn't stand up." Norm added.

"But it turns out to be more complicated." Max finished.

Unobtainum was the only thing that kept the economy going. Human civilization needed it if it was to keep going. But humanity would need to destroy another world in order to keep running. Jake and the others knew things had to stop, no matter how much politics or statistics prevented it from happening. But now, they had their eyes open to the bigger picture after the adrenalin of acting to the immediate situation.

"These people can't suffer from these black hole hungry bastards." Jake said

"But if we don't feed the beast, the other people will pay the price." Max said

"If the economy collapses, there will be riots and it'd be total chaos…," Norm said.

With earth's lands being complete toxic sludge, it could only be lived on with electricity. If electricity were removed, air filters would not work, global communication would be impossible and civilization would collapse. Like the Roman Empire ages ago, when it fell, the entire continent plunged into bloodshed and anarchy. If the human world today would collapse now, the magnitude of the bloodshed would be off the scale. The toxic atmosphere would multiply the destruction as people would die left and right even after the initial bloodshed ended. With no technology to protect them, they would be as good as screwed.

"It just had to be those money grabbing jackasses to build up earth's economy so much that collapse would mean near extinction." Jake said.

"But we can't let another species die because we were so stupid." Norm said.

"If only there was another way…" Max said.

"With what I have planed, it might be the 'other way' you're looking for."

Jake, Norm and Max turned their heads suddenly to another voice in the lab. From behind a desk, a man stepped out from behind it. He strode in front of the trio with his arms crossed around his chest and his shoulders relaxed.

"Who are you?" Max asked standing up along with Norm.

"My name's Matt Harrison." He answered and looked straight at Max. "And might I ask, did you manage to get a good look at the douche bag they call Selfridge when you did your thing?"

Max didn't answer the question he was given. Instead he looked at Norm and Jake who were both surprised by the man's question.

"What did you mean by plan?" Jake asked when he returned his gaze to him.

"You'll have a lot more questions when I start answering." Matt replied and he walked to his right and took a chair and sat down. "I'll answer the one that you and your friends both tall and small have; who were those two fly boys who gave your friends a medical run?"

The trio looked each other again with surprise to Matt's question.

"They're Danny Whitmore and Aiden Johnson. To the regular person running through the employment list, they're nothing more special than everyone else including me. I'm just a technician just making sure things work and they're pilots flying what needs to be flown."

Jake began to catch on from the tone of Matt's sly and calm voice, "But there's more it, is there?"

"When you make it through the threshold and don't get blipped on the radar up here, you're free to get the job done." Matt continued. "And when you're itching for the truth and your friends are coughing and gagging on a home that needs to be saved, you know what job you need to do."

Though his words were initially confusing, Jake began to have an idea of what he was talking about.

"If you are what I think you are, how many are you are there here."

"About dozen," Matt leaned back on his chair. "A job couldn't be done with one person. It takes a group of individuals who aren't afraid, who are determined and all have one thing in common."

"And that is…"

"They're all looking for the better tomorrow they've always dreamed about."

Norm entered the conversation. "So you're saying you're spies?"

"Let me ask you this. Before you signed up for the ticket up here, think about what you're image of earth was and what this mysterious planet was. Then think about what you saw these last few months; the good the bad and the ugly parts."

Norm and Max recalled their memories and Jake did too. The RDA propaganda board advertised a chance to go out to outer space to a world that was the most hostile place known to mankind. And with the hostility, the RDA promised a big wad of cash as a reward. Norm and Max recalled what they read about the Na'vi culture and lifestyle but they noticed that they were oblivious to what the RDA was doing to them at the time. And they remembered the document, "Introducing Pandoran plants and animals to earth"**(****1) **and how it said it was a bad idea to bring Pandoran life forms to earth without the consent of the RDA. Then they recalled the recent events and not just the brutal shocking parts of death and sadness. As they researched the life forms of Pandora, they found and shared very unique and interesting properties of the flora.

"You're here to get information about Pandora?" Norm said in a question that sounded more of a statement. "And get it to the people on earth?"

"If we were on a game show, you'd be a millionaire." Matt slyly smiled and nodded his head. "So now that you know who I am or more like what I'm here for, you're free to fire the questions left and right."

And so the questions came and the answers followed. The first questions concerned the people he was working for. Matt explained that it wasn't an actual job, but like secret, underground volunteer work. People on earth were organizing together and learning what they could about the RDA, Pandora and ways to save what was left of earth. Their overall goal was to take apart the RDA piece by piece until it fell and in doing so, Pandora would be saved and earth would go into a new direction to change itself and save itself.

He was one of the most willing ones of the group because he had, one, skills of a technician who can work in the field and, two, he had nothing to lose that was close to him. His family wasn't in contact with him much anymore and his friends drifted away over time. The only thing he felt he had was a heart bruised with the darkness of a world that was taken away and murdered before everyone's eyes. After the fateful day when he received the note in his pocket, he met the activists. He felt it was the only group of people he could ever trust after his first meeting with a number of their members. He would go up to the moon, report on the events and perhaps smuggle off valuables if he could risk it.

"I have a question," Norm said. "If you and others here inside men, why didn't you help us?"

"We fight from the shadows. If we talked to you or the scientists or even had shown any reaction to the incidents of this week, our cover would be blown and our mission here would be comprised. What's worse, this would show evidence of the movement on earth and they would get a scent to hunt them down. But we don't have any Na'vi blood on our hands; I made sure that at the proper time, Danny and Aiden's Samsons would report engine problems and would turn around out of harm's way when the battle started. I couldn't sabotage much else because if they succeeded in winning that battle, our cover wouldn't be blown. I hope you understand."

The trio nodded in acknowledgment. Then Matt returned to his story.

The activists learned everything from the information that was disclosed to them but they dug deeper to learn the truths. They stole documents and intercepted transmissions concerning the RDA's actions and history of destruction, both on earth and Pandora. They could only hunt from the shadows because if the RDA knew about the movement, the activists would become the hunted with the law against them. They were careful to disclose their information to the select few and were careful not to go public because that would be the easiest way for the RDA and the authorities to trace them.

"Okay. I understand Pandora will be saved, but how would destroying the RDA and leaving Pandora alone save earth if there would be no more unobtanium to power it?"

"Do you think the world will end when those glutinous fucktards lose supply income? Don't worry about that; the economy will go on for a number of years even after the last cargo makes it to earth. They store many of their stashes secretly to keep the price of Unobtainum high on the market with fake shortage in supply."

Jake wasn't surprised when Matt said that. All of the digging had been done as fast as possible for efficient collecting and when it came to the market, of course they would want the price to be high. With the storage, they would have a fall back plan to confiscate the demand if a payload didn't meet it and the excess supply wouldn't decrease the prices.

"Alright, so the RDA could power the world with whatever they have left in their storage, but what happens when they really run out?"

"That comes to the part of the conversation where I show you what my plan is." Matt leaned forward in his chair. He reached into his uniform's large pockets and he pulled out a small bag. He then unzipped it and gently reached inside. When he pulled out his hand, he opened his hand and a dozen small translucent cubes lay in his palm.

"Any of you know what these are?" Matt looked up at the trio.

"Aren't those data modules?" Norm asked

"100 petro bytes of data on each of these centimeter wide cubes," Matt responded. "Loaded with schematics for manufacturing weapons and vehicles and documents of the status of the company too complex for superluminal communications when brought from earth and loaded with base data and genetic codes of Pandoran wildlife to be synthesized in the labs when brought back to earth."** (2)**

Matt then explained what he planned to do. During the near three decades the RDA had set up its commercial interstellar pipeline with Pandora and earth, they used data modules to import rich data from Earth to Pandora and vise-verse. On their way back to earth, some modules contained genetic codes of the plant life of Pandora. When the data was downloaded to the RDA labs, they grew the planets in the labs and sensitized samples for farther research.

Many of the plants had very unique and even outstanding properties that made them have so much potential for uses around the world. However, it was all controlled by the RDA and hardly anyone else had any research or knowledge of the potential of the plants. The RDA did release some products that used Pandoran plants like the _Panopyra _**(3)**, the giant pink flower the Na'vi called _Tawtsngal_ or "Sky cup." The RDA synthesized the juices from the plant and sold it as stimulants and "enhancers" for the public. Another plant used is _Episoth _**(4)**,named _pxorna_ by the Na'vi meaning "exploding seed." After some alterations, the mucilage of the plant was sold for skin care, which is in high demand because of the nearly depleted ozone, and highly controlled by the RDA.

The activists knew the potential of many of the plants that were in the labs. They couldn't however, sneak into the labs and steal samples or genetic codes under the RDA's nose with the breakneck security. They were, however, able to get a sample of _anemonid_ **(5)** fungus by sheer luck and it had great success with detoxifying the area around Pittsburg. But their luck was limited because no one got any other plant out of the labs.

But 4.4 light years from earth, after a swift event of fire, blood and destruction, an opportunity like no other showed itself and Matt had seen it. With all the personnel rounded up, and he managed to hide and not be rounded up, there was no security.

"While Danny and Aiden were flying your people out of a little goodwill, I had a blast filling these up with the codes and the info I need. Without guards toting guns or security monitors watching the logs, I don't have to worry about covering my ass like everyone on earth is. So if you were to kick the people of the planet now, they wouldn't have any monitors making sure the personnel aren't taking what they shouldn't be taking home."

"In the chaos, you will slip right through." Jake said. "So you plan on sleeping all the way back to shithole earth with that? They might have security when you come through the terminal back on earth."

"Don't worry I know how to get through."

After his five-year nap and he got through security, he would find the activists. After 11 years of space travel, the people and places might change but the group was able to make finding each other easy for the members but hard for the ones oblivious to them. Once he made contact with them, he would show the information and they would distribute the plant codes to the other labs so they could do their research and when they get it right they could release it to the public.

So many plants could help everyone. The environment restoring plants like the _puffball tree _**(****6) **absorbed salts from soils making them nontoxic. _Dakteron _**(7)**_, _an insect eating plant could help reduce river blindness, and the mother of all fungus,_ Octoshroom _**(8)**_,_ when adapted to the earth's atmosphere, could restore so much toxic land like the Nevada toxic flats. The pharmaceutical market would grow with the introduction of _Episoth_ to "cause" organizations to give the RDA a competitor and _Dapophet _**(9)**, a multipurpose plant that the Na'vi use frequently, could provide a verity of pharmaceutical products. The last featured plant was the _dandetiger _**(****10)**. Jake used its sap for his improvised torch he made on his first day out on the field. With the genetic code in hand and when given to the public, small communities will find themselves free of unobtainum with the outstanding energy yield unlike any vegetative fuel found on earth. And last, but not least, was _teylu _**(****11)**. With its high protein content, palatability and rapid breeding in waste, _teylu_ has potential to become a cheap and productive food source.

"The last things I'm bringing are some RDA documents. It's impossible to get all their documents into all these," he shook his hand that held the modules. "But it contains enough documents the public will find revolting and perhaps make the authorities start an investigation when they hear about it. But it won't be enough. I came here to ask you guys to add a little personality to it."

"Personality?" Jake asked.

"I'm asking you to allow me to download your video logs and get the home tree attack footage so the people will get the other side of the story if the RDA decides to tell the public before we do. The videos will go viral after a few weeks after we've given the "cause" organizations the plant codes."

Jake looked at Matt for a moment and replied, "Of course, but why ask me? You could have taken it when you were having free time on the computers right?"

"Well, I thought it'd be more polite to ask for something from a person who sees things the way we do. Besides, we needed to talk so you could know what to do next while I know what I will do."

Jake smiled and nodded his head. "Ok. So you are going to go back to earth and give the information to the people and hopefully they won't suspect that you are one of us."

"Correct. And since you guys have nowhere to go except stay here you might need some help keeping the base up without all the personnel running everything. If you want, I can tell the others to stay with you to help in keeping this base up if you or the Na'vi will permit it. You're going to need those pilots and other people for food and all the essentials"

_That's right._ Jake thought. They needed a plan for how they would run things now that almost every person who keeps the base up and running will be gone. But at moment Norm's eyes opened suddenly.

"Wait, if the plan is to kick the rest of the RDA people off of Pandora, aren't any of you concerned they might come back before Matt gets back to earth with the evidence?"

"That is a possible flaw but I wouldn't worry too much about that. The only way to communicate with earth now is through the Venture Star's low-bit superluminal communicator since Max trashed the ops-center. I wouldn't worry much for two reasons. One, when the RDA were given the rights to mine out in space by the Interplanetary Commerce Administration, their military power out here and on earth can only go so far and they can't get their hands on any nukes or other weapons of mass destruction **(12)** so that rules out the threat of the threat of nuclear winter here. And nukes might make the Unobtainum deposits radioactive and that might affect its properties. Two; if they were to get ready for a full scale invasion of Pandora, it might cost them too much to and It would take almost seven years to prepare and travel here. If they were to get to the surface, they would need reinforcements quickly and would need to set up a staging area so they would get troops gradually to overwhelm the planet."

"So if the RDA does return, I can tell the Na'vi around the world to be prepared and stop the troopers before they can set up a staging area." Jake answered.

"You can just tell the commercial line of ISV's to make a u-turn when they come by every six months when you can fix the communicator. They don't have the man power to take Pandora since you control the ground and the base. Since you guys managed to give the alien invaders too much trouble, they might think that Pandora is too hard to claim and they might move on to fuck another planet for fuel. So all and all, you've managed to save Pandora from the rotten side of humanity."

"So basically we'll just stay here and do whatever for the rest of our lives." Norm said.

"You could have more uses for that, you could do more research and it might lead to more breakthroughs. Let me give you some advice, after about six or seven years, you and my people should make a superluminal receiver and transmitter to see if things changed on earth and you can speak your minds up here. Maybe things changed enough for the good people to come to Pandora or something."

The trio was silent for a moment as they looked at each other. "Well I guess we have a plan then." Norm said.

"I believe we do." Matt nodded his head.

"I'll get my logs up right now for you." Jake rolled to a computer terminal and began to type in his access codes to his profile. "It's all yours," he rolled aside when he came to his log collection.

"This won't take long," Matt pulled up a chair and connected one of the cubes to the computer. But before he connected the cube to the computer, he turned to Jake and asked: "I'm afraid to ask, but, what happened to Grace Augustine since she's not here?"

Jake looked down when he heard the question. He breathed in coolly and calmly gave his answer. "She… was hit in the escape. We… tried to save her with the help of the people but... we didn't make it in time."

"Oh…" Matt said coolly like he wasn't really surprised by the answer. "War is war then. She was an icon to many of our group. I guess she's in the place she always wanted to go after she was done."

_I'm with her, Jake. She's real…_

"Yeah, I believe she is too." Jake replied.

"Shouldn't get to ya. Should be a reminder of what you fought for and what you're still doing."

"Right," Jake exhaled the weight from himself.

Matt connected the cube and went to work. While he did so, Jake, Norm and Max sat down facing each other. Jake was the first to start the conversation.

"So since we're staying here, how do we keep this base running with little fuel to power it and not enough people to look after the whole thing?"

"I got some ideas," Max said "The base needs a lot of power to power the entire base including the refinery, the manufacturing plant and the living quarters."

"All we need to do is shut down the refinery and the plant so that way we won't need to use so much power." Norm jumped in.

"Yeah, but what will we fuel it with? Whatever unobtainum is left?" Jake said.

"Maybe we could be able to use the _dandetiger_ sap to power the essential facilities." Norm said.

"That could work." Matt spoke from the computer. "And maybe you can keep the manufacturing plant up just a little longer to make solar panels. I believe there are schematics for constructing them in the database. And my people can help you build them."

"Perfect! If we can conserve enough power, we could keep a sustainable life style here." Norm added.

"Well it looks like we have a plan here as well." Jake said.

Matt pressed a key on the computer and a bar filled across the screen. After it was finished downloading, he disconnected the cube from the terminal and put it and the rest of the tiny cubes into the bag as he stood up.

"Well I guess you guys need to make some arrangements with the Na'vi and to get the rotten people off Pandora."

"You'll just blend in with the pack then?"

"Yea, but I'll tell the others to stay and I've up loaded the profiles of my people on the computer so you can identify them."

"All right then." Jake said.

"Though we might never see each other again, I must say it has been a pleasure seeing and working with the savors of Pandora and contributors of the salvation of earth." He walked forward and shook each person's hands. When he was finished he turned around and headed for the exit. Just before he walked through, he turned around and smiled.

"We are all looking for something and we see a chance to make it happen. What is it we see?"

Jake answered, "A better tomorrow."

"You got it." Matt turned the corner and disappeared.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> As you may have guessed, Matt is a part of the activists from the activist survival guide book. I've yet to see a fan fiction about that book by the way. So, since I couldn't find one, why not create one with in mine? And yes, I've done my research on all the details to make it as authentic and realistic as possible.

This one took a little while to write and it's the longest chapter I've written so far and it was rather fun to pick at the guide and Matt's character. The story's far from over so… enjoy the show, review, refer to friends and enjoy life. :)

Sources:

1: Activist survival guide: pg. 126

2: Human operations / Vehicles /ISV Venture Star

3: Activist survival guide: pg. 136

4: Activist survival guide: pg. 131

5: Activist survival guide: pg. 115

6: Activist survival guide: pg. 138

7: Activist survival guide: pg. 127

8: Activist survival guide: pg. 133

9: Activist survival guide: pg. 130

10: Activist survival guide: pg. 129

11: Activist survival guide: pg. 100

12: Human operations / RDA /RDA


	15. Human

Human

Jake opened his eyes and inhaled deeply as his mind shot his senses back into his body. His eyes didn't take long to adjust to the outside light. He felt himself laying on his back on something soft. After a second, he realized he was lying on a bed when he looked up at the wooden ceiling of the Avatar compound's bunk house. The area of the base was cleared of Pandoran wildlife years ago. But after it was finished, life still grew from the ground of the compound making it the only part of the base that had colors brighter than concrete black and metal grey.

Jake sat up when he felt his entire body was in control. He looked to his side and found Neytiri sitting on the bed next to his. It was only her in the house and only a scattered amount of blue people were standing out in the field. She expressed a little anxiousness in her eyes from waiting for him to return but Jake could read something else in her eyes. He looked down and her hands that were resting in her lap. She held a number of photos in her hands. He looked down and saw his pack that was set down beside the bed was open with a number of things on the floor.

"So… got a little bored and felt a little curious?"

"Forgive me, I didn't…"

"No, no, it's cool." Jake slid off his bed and sat beside her on the other bed. "I'm sorry it took so long. There were more things that went on than we expected."

Jake looked down at the photos in her hands. They were some of the photos of the old school that Jake decided to pack to take back to the base. When he saw the photos, he became silent.

Grace had told Jake about what happened; how the school became abandoned and how Neytiri lost her sister. Jake looked at the front picture. Grace sat with the laughing children on the front steps of the school and to the side of the steps, Neytiri stood with another Na'vi girl who he assumed was her sister, Sylwanin. Sylwanin was a little shorter than Neytiri but she showed much resemblance to her sister through her smile and her eyes that nearly mimicked Neytiri's. She was also rather beautiful for her own age. Jake could only imagine what Neytiri went through on that infamous day.

On their first day out, Grace brought Norm and Jake to the old school to gather some supplies. When Jake entered it, he could have sworn that there were ghosts lingering in the rotting wooden structure. The dusty book shelves, the stingbat infested ceiling and the chalk board riddled with a dozen bullet holes made it feel haunted. But it wasn't until he found the photos of the school and when he learned what happed did he decided it was ghosts.

Now, seeing the photo again with the person who was there when it was taken, Jake felt some tension that Neytiri held inside of her. He gently put his hand on her wrist and said nothing. It was the best thing that he could do to let her know he understood and was here for her. After several seconds of silence, the tension seemed to ease Neytiri gently moved her hand holding the photo out of Jakes hand and placed the photos aside. She then turned her head around and met Jakes eyes.

"May I ask you a question?" She asked calmly. Her voice showed the tension was gone or at least brought down to a controllable level.

"Of course, anything," Jake replied.

"Why did the Sky people become what they are now?"

Jake was a little surprised and confused about the question. Not surprised because it was an odd question but because she ask him of all people.

"How do you mean?" Jake said forming the rest of his words. "Like how the sky people became so…so…" He searched, "So pushy and rude?"

"How they became so violent and so blind." Neytiri said clarified.

Jake inhaled before he responded, "I don't mean to be rude but why are you asking me?"

"You don't want to answer?"

"No, no. It's just, why ask about Sky people in general now and ask me of all people? I'm probably not the best candidate for this sort of thing."

"I believe you are," Neytiri softly replied. She reached out and sandwiched Jakes hand between her two.

"How do you know?" Jake asked

"Because you told me you were different than the Sky warriors before you came to us. You told me that there are people who can see like you did. I ask because I want to know why some people can see and why others cannot."

Jake pondered for a few moments. Neytiri believed he was one of the people who could answer the question. Jake hadn't put much thought into this subject when he was on Earth. But when he began to think about it now, it seemed that he knew some things without knowing he did. Perhaps he felt he stowed those things away somewhere inside himself because it seemed pointless to think about humanity in the overcrowded streets of his home town dominated by the strong and abusive and controlled by ignorance and fear. Now, he felt like something inside of him had been unlocked and Neytiri seemed to be the one who turned the key.

"I'll try to give you the answers as best I can but I might not be completely right on some things."

"I have faith in you, Jake." Neytiri gently put her fingers on his cheek and turned his head to look into his eyes.

"Okay. But first I need to get a message out to the clan leaders to come for a meeting. I'll talk to you when I get back. It won't be long, I promise this time."

Neytiri looked down for a moment but brought her gaze back up to Jake and gently nodded. Slowly Jake rose from the bed and walked out of the quarters and off toward the metal buildings. After a few seconds, Neytiri lifted herself from the bed and stood on the porch of the building and looked out to the obstacle course that lay on the field of grass covering the compound. She looked out in the distance and saw the metal factors and buildings as well. When she arrived at the base, she felt a little uncertain and uncomfortable standing in the clear, flat and dull-colored area of the landing strip. It didn't bother her too much. But it did make her question some things about the Sky people after she remembered what she learned about them, both the good and the bad parts.

After about ten minutes, Jake returned to the bunk house with a brown box in his hand. Neytiri saw him and immediately walked back into the house and sat cross-legged on top of the bed. Jake saw her do so and he put the box on the edge of the bed and sat right across from Neytiri. He looked into her eyes as he searched for a way to start the conversation. When he found a way to start, he began.

"From what I know, humanity was basically like this since the beginning. They did start out like you and the people. They used bows, arrows and other things around them to make tools that they could use and many groups of people lived in many different places like the forests, plains, snow covered lands, and near the coasts."

Jake paused for a moment to form his next words and to see if Neytiri had any questions. She did.

"Sky people lived as the people do?" She asked but in a tone meaning she wanted to clarify. Jake nodded.

"But why do they now use metal and machines?"

"I guess a big reason was because back then the only objective was survival and you need to do anything to survive. You need to change things in order to improve your chances. You see… sky people didn't have a person like Ewya to look…" Jake fumbled a little but recovered to try to find a better road to take, "well no- it's… they didn't have a way to physically connect to a higher power like you and the people can connect to Ewya."

Neytiri looked a little confused by his answer. "What do you mean?"

"Well the thing you have to understand is that Sky people did believe in higher power like you and the people do with Ewya. Some of the Sky people believed in God, a wise old man who was believed to be the creator of Earth and humanity itself. When people believed in him, they created rules to live by. Like being committed to a loving family and to help the less fortunate people like you and the people do."

"Then why are they so blind and destructive now if they believed in him."

"Because people are human," Jake replied. Neytiri was a little puzzled by the word human. "When we say human, it means we make mistakes and learn from them. But the ironic thing was people refused to learn a lot of times.

"God wasn't the only person to be worshiped because many groups of people believed in different sprits that were said to have created the Earth. Too many times people believed so much in their religion that they just killed countless amounts of people because those people believed differently than others did."

Neytiri was silent for a moment. Sky people were violent but she suddenly found something that connected to her people and the Navi. On occasion, but very rarely, clans did have wars with each other. The only difference between the people and the sky people was the magnitude of the destruction.

"I'm guessing the Navi had it easy because you all believe in the same things." Jake said.

Neytiri looked at him for a moment. "People killed people because they were different and believed differently?"

"Pride is a big killer, isn't it?" Jake said. "As time went by and humanity upgraded their tech, they did become more open minded and tolerated other people's beliefs. But I honestly think it didn't happen fast enough. Some people still killed other people who didn't believe the same thing. And for those who loosened their grip on religion, the most apparent result was that pride went wild and they became careless and killed many people for their own gain."

"But something must have happened." Neytiri said with a little enthusiasm. "You told me of the clan you came from."

Jake looked back into her eyes. Something suddenly sparked inside him from the sudden jolt of energy she let out. He did tell her about why he came back to the people to help them after they wanted him gone.

"You told me there are people like you who fight for people who need help." Neytiri said.

"Yea, that's right."

"Tell me about them."

"You know, that night we first met, when you brought me to your father?" She nodded. "Well that thing about the 'Jarhead clan' was just to get in. Jarhead is just a nickname for what warriors like us were called. The name of the group I was from was the United States Marine Corps."

"United States?" She said.

"On Earth, humans are divided into countries like Na'vi are divided into clans. The United States started out from a bunch of people from another country looking for a new land to live in. After they found the new land, they grew around the new lands to form the thirteen colonies. But the leaders of the old land who ruled the new one treated the people unfairly. So the people of the new lands waged war against their rulers and won. After they became independent and were able to live on their own, they set up a set of rules of how the new country would be run and how the leaders and any person would avoid treating any other person unequally and everyone could have a chance to live a free life."

"What happened?"

"I guess most people lost site of the true ideal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for every man woman and child. It was a country of all white skinned people and they believed they were smarter and better than the rest. For a while, they took people with black skin from their home across the ocean all the way to America to force them to work for a number of people who bought them. Some people were opposed to the idea but it took the bloodiest war for the US to settle the issue once and for all and free the slaves. But even after that, it took a hundred years to finally give colored people equal rights in American society. It was the same thing for females. Females were only for taking care of a man's home and rising the children and nothing else. It took about two hundred years until women could vote for new leaders and laws and to start having more freedom in society. But even now there are still some tiny bits and pieces missing from true equality among everyone.

"America prided itself to be the fairest and most prosperous country and expanded to become one of the most powerful countries in the world; that it could be a haven for any person with any background to come and fit right in. It was sort of true but that 'fair chance' grew into other countries thinking they needed to be like America. All I can say afterword is that humanity was sent onto the road that basically destroyed itself and Earth with it in a shower of greed that spread everywhere."

Jake looked down when he was finished with his narration of how he though America and Earth came to be. He felt his mouth was dry from talking so long. It also occurred to him he hadn't eaten anything since he and the warriors ate a quick bite before they rode off to defend the Tree of Souls. Jake did have a quick snack in his human body before he reentered his avatar to send the message for a meeting with the clan leaders. Jake asked Neytiri if she was hungry and she said yes. He walked out of the bunk house to the nearest bush that grew the juicy Pandoran fruit Jake first had when he first entered his avatar. He plucked two ripe fruit from the bush and returned to the house. He held out one of the fruit to Neytiri and she gently took it from his hand. Jake sat back down onto the other side of the bed on his knees this time. He pressed the fruit up against his lips, pushed his teeth forward and nibbled through the skin. The cool juice of the fruit spewed between his lips and into his mouth. He then gently sucked the overflowed juices with his tongue through the hole careful not to let any spill onto his face. When he drank most of the juice out, Jake bit around the fruit and ate the rest of it. Neytiri finished hers shortly after he did. Neytiri looked up into Jake's eyes and he looked back into them.

"You still need to tell me about the 'United States Marine Corps.' You told me they were different and you joined them to prove yourself."

"That's right." Jake replied. "If you knew everything about U.S. soldiers and about the true ideals of America, U.S. soldiers stand a mile away from the mercs up here."

"How are they different?"

"From the moment we start boot camp and go through the vigorous training courses to get into shape, you begin a bond like a brotherhood with the ones who share your bunk. When you're done with training and you're sent out to the battlefield, only one thing matters; keeping yourself and the people who stand by your side alive. In these bonds, almost every person would want to take a bullet for their friend. Soldiers from any country, and not just the US, are lead to believe in fighting for honor and that we have a duty to protect our families, the country we come from and any person who needs help."

Neytiri found Jake's words to be revaluating. These marines and soldiers seemed to resemble much of what the Na'vi warriors represented to their people. Warriors always fight for their families' wellbeing and that is what they did today.

"Then why are the sky people who are here different from these soldiers?"

"Because they chose to throw aside that brotherhood and those things they fought for because they were promised a large reward from the company they decided to work for. These guys were ordered to come up here and shoot anything that wasn't human because the company told them to. The thing about mercenaries is that they could be told to do something so horrible and they would still do it if they would get paid afterwards."

"Is that why you came here from Earth?" Neytiri asked. She didn't show any uneasiness in here voice. It was a question of pure curiosity and not about regrettable truth.

Jake blinked. "Well, it was one of the lesser reasons." He reached over the side of the bed. He brought up the wooden box he brought before they sat down to talk. It was as big as his palm; in human scale it would fill the area of both human hands. He moved closer to where Neytiri sat and he opened the box. There were a number of small items inside it. Jake dug through the pile with his over grown hands and pulled out a photo and showed it to Neytiri. It was a photo of Jake with his brother, Tom. They both looked the same except that one wore a marine shirt and the other regular cloths.

"Of all the people to put a bullet into for the money in their pocket, that mugger had to choose my brother that day." Jake said as Neytiri gently took the photo from his hand. "He was the one who was to have this body and use it up here. Because I was his brother, a twin of him, I could take control of this thing and take his place." Jake put his hand up and squeezed his fingers into a fist and released. "I could have turned the offer down, but I didn't."

"Why?"

"Because there wasn't anything for me to do with two legs that didn't work. I needed to find a way to keep myself in a warmed home and this opportunity was something that could do that. They told me it would be a fresh start on a new world. I didn't know about the fresh start part but from where I was, I didn't matter much in the crowd of people. So I thought 'why not.' The rest of my family and former friends were either dead or too distant from me to matter anymore."

"Those warriors you said you created a bond with…"

"After my injury, I became disconnected from them and them to me during my recovery. They still served the Corps while I was put on early retirement. After that day I got a bullet wedged into my spine, everything changed for me."

"You said they could make you walk again, correct?"

"At first, why wouldn't I do something that could give me back something that I always wanted so badly? But after everything you showed me, I almost forgot about what I was supposed to do or why I was doing it. Out here I could actually walk and use two strong and working legs in the open and free landscape. That and everything you and the people share with each other and the planet."

Neytiri gave the photo of Tom back to Jake and he dug through the box some more. Jake pulled out one of his prized treasures: his Marine portrait.

"This is you as a warrior?" Neytiri asked when she took hold of the portrait and looked at the man with the white hat and the blue uniform with medals on the side of his chest.

"In my formal, ceremonial, uniform, yes," Jake replied. He took out another photo and showed it to her. It was the unit photo of the Marine company he was in. Jake's face was amongst the hundred grim looking soldiers. They did look like the humans Neytiri have seen and fought against. But she thought about what Jake said about honor and duty and she thought she could see that in the eyes of the soldiers looking at her through the photo.

Next he showed her his dog tag. Inscribed on it was Jakes name and his unit number. What was next was his most insulting reminder of the end of his service: his Purple Heart. He explained to her that he received this because he was wounded in action in the service of the armed forces. He also explained that there are other medals given for the service of the military, the Medal of Honor being the greatest achievement of them of all. He kept the Purple Heart because it was the closest reminder of his own Valor.

After he explained those things, he showed her a photo of him and his brother with their parents. Neytiri thought of her own family when she saw the photo. Jake and Tom were young children and smiled cheerfully in the photo in front of their mother and father. They looked happy together.

"They're dead, before you ask," Jake said when Neytiri looked at his parents in the photo. "It was an accident."

Neytiri took a pause to be polite about what he said.

"I am very sorry, Jake."

"Hey, you don't have to be sorry. You have a better relationship with your family than I did with mine."

"How can you say such a thing?" Neytiri jerked back in revolt.

"It's… just the way you and the people relate to family. It just seems you value it more than most humans I knew."

"Did your mother and father love you?" Neytiri said.

"Yeah, and I loved them too."

"Then why would you say my family is better? Every family is special and none can ever be better than any other!" She sounded offended when she raised her voice.

Jake turned his face calmly to the side and breathed in two breaths. He thought about what he was trying to say. When he believed he had it, he turned back to Neytiri's gaze.

"When I saw your father lying dead on the ground, I felt total agony in me when I heard you crying over him. You had more love for your father than I had for anyone. I felt like the suffering I experienced when I lost my parents and my brother was only miniscule compared to what you must have gone through when you lost half you're family."

"Are you saying you do not value yourself?"

"That's a part of being a soldier. Sometimes you have to think other people have more value than yourself and their lives are more important than your own." Jake paused. "When you think about it, I don't have anything else to live for. You, you still have your mother who loves you and the people who you care for and care for you."

"But you said you wanted to come to us so you could walk again. Was that something to live for? And you learned so much from us to come back and help us all. Surely you must have something to live for now."

Neytiri leaned forward and crawled toward where Jake sat. She sat on her knees in front of him and placed both hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes.

"I do not believe you came back only because you had a 'duty' to fulfill. Please tell me the truth Jake," Neytiri looked deeper into his eyes. "Did you come back because you still loved me?"

Jake was hypnotized by her eyes again. From that look, Jake couldn't lie or keep the truth from her anymore. He gently put his hands on the sides of her shoulders and she moved her hands down to his shoulders as well.

"I couldn't let myself be sent back home knowing you and your people would soon all be dead before I woke up from a long five year sleep from here to Earth. All I could think about when they had me locked up was you. But I didn't want to give myself false hope in thinking I could win you back because I could understand that you would have wanted to kill me after seeing what happened. I made myself come back for the reason of duty because I wasn't sure I would be able to get back the things I thought I had before. But to answer your question, yes, one of the real reasons I came back was for of you."

Jake lifted his hand and gently slid his hand down the soft skin of the side of her face.

"I do love you, Neytiri." He said as he looked deeper into her eyes.

"I love you as well," Neytiri said back. "Not because you are Na'vi or human, but because you are who you are."

Jake opened his eyes a little when she said human for the first time but he didn't dwell on the thought for long. Neytiri blinked her memorizing eyes and slowly leaned her head forward. She moved her lips forward and Jake took in the kiss that came to his lips. They both embraced it as they stretched their bodies up and wrapped their arms around one another and pull their bodies together. They held the kiss for almost a minute until they broke it and held their foreheads together.

"I do have something to live for after all," Jake said quietly.

"You always did, Jake." Neytiri replied softly.

When they finally broke the embrace, a Na'vi warrior called out to them. The clan leaders must have arrived. When the warrior told them face to face, Jake was right.

"Come on, you should be a part of this," Jake turned to Neytiri. She nodded and followed Jake out of the bunk house.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> This was the most difficult chapter so far. I apologize for the long wait but I finally got though the road block of making the conversation believable and cover only what it needed to cover. As always I ask you for feedback. Did I manage to make the chapter so that the dialogue matches the characters? Did Jake sound too much like a philosopher? Was I able to get the themes of the story and chapter out? Please give me feed back because it really encourages me to keep writing. I'll get to work on Chapter 16 and try to finish it as quick as I can without rushing it. Until then, enjoy this and life. :)


	16. Departure

Departure

Jake and Neytiri walked hand-in-hand up the side of the hill that overlooked the valley and the gray pentagon that stood in the middle of it. When Jake looked down on Hell's gate from above he could see how out of place it looked from everything else around it. When he exited the Valkyrie shuttle onto the tarmac of the base three months ago, he didn't know what was more alien to him: seeing alien trees on the hills, let alone seeing actual trees, or sitting in a discoloration in the colored land. It took the three months he spent outside the base to make his decision.

The scout that informed them of the other clan leaders led Jake and Neytiri up the side of the hill to a small clearing where the other clan leaders were waiting for them. Along with the clan leaders were the best warriors from each clan and a number of warriors standing behind them as bodyguards. He vaguely remembered the original clan leaders when they set out to bring them together. It was likely many of the clan leaders were killed in battle and the best warriors took their places and now sat before them. They sat in a semicircle that faced Jake when he emerged from the foliage. Jake could see from the arrangement that he was to sit down before them all. Even though Jake had grown accustomed to being the spokesmen he still got a little nervous on the stage. He did manage, however, to filter it out to get through the speeches.

Jake sat down and Neytiri did the same next to him. The scout that led them he then turned and stood behind them along with another guard.

"My brothers and sisters," Jake greeted the group. "Thank you for coming." Jake spoke what Na'vi he could speak. He knew much about the language but he still was shaky on the complex parts and he referred to Neytiri to translate when he needed her to. "The battle we have fought today was swift and it was paid for with the blood of our people. We have achieved victory and now have captured the remaining Sky people. Many of us have lost someone close to all of us. I, too, have lost someone close to me. In his last words, Tsu'tey, leader of the Omatikaya, has entrusted me with the role of Olo'eyktan. As Tourk Makto, Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya, and as another voice of the Na'vi, I have asked you here speak for the fate of the prisoners and for the future of our people. You may speak for what you want to be done first."

The leaders and warriors were quiet and relatively patient when Jake spoke. When he finished, many of the leaders turned to their clan's warrior and exchanged some words. But the quiet discussions didn't last long.

"I say we end this once and for all. We kill them all!"

Jake's eyes locked onto the warrior who stood up and shouted out his proposal. He was a medium sized warrior, about the same size Jake was. His shoulder length hair was unbraided and he had a small scar that curved over his right eye brow. He didn't look threatening from appearance alone but his eyes showed he was determined and would be willing to fight to the death. Many of the warriors were hasty like Jake had expected when a number of whoops erupted from the group. Most of the clan leaders and a few warriors were more patient and stayed silent. Jake immediately raised his hand. They quieted down a little quicker than Jake anticipated. I must have been him being the mythic Tourk Makto and they wouldn't want to disgrace him.

"I understand you wish to end the war, but I do not believe this act is the wisest decision. These people are only a small piece and more sky people are coming."

"Then their deaths will serve as a warning for those who will come."

Jake turned his head away and grinned to himself. It was a dark, sick-humored grin you made when you're so used to hearing bad news that it's not as revolting when you hear it over and over again. When he put the grin away from his face, Jake stood up and took a step forward into the center of the semicircle and eyed the hasty warrior. The warrior took the look as a cue for him to step forward before the rest of the leaders. He did so standing a polite distance in front of Jake.

"I know that you are dedicated to your people and speak for what you believe is the will of your clan." Jake coolly said to the warrior. "But this action you wish to be done is exactly what the evil sky leaders want all of you to do."

Though warriors were known to keep a very straight face in everything, Jake could see a little reaction in the warrior's eyes while is face relatively stayed stone for the most part. The other clan leaders and seated warriors looked at each other and some exchanged whispers from Jake's statement.

"Please, Tourk makto, tell us why we should not kill the Sky people,"

Jake looked down at the red painted female clan leader from the Ikran clan who spoke. Jake was surprised she was still alive after the battle. When he and Neytiri flew to her clan and asked her clan to come join the war, she accepted eagerly. She seemed very spontaneous when she flew into battle. But now that the battle was over, she seemed more calm and patient and willing to think before acting.

"At dawn of the day hometree of the Omatikaya fell, the sky people destroyed the sacred trees of voices." Jake sat back down next to Neytiri and the warrior that stood before returned to his spot as well. "Tsu'tey and his warriors attacked the sky people who destroyed the grove to avenge the hearts broken by the evil deed. But that was exactly what the Sky people wanted them to do; to show the Na'vi to be a monstrous people with no honor and kill countless lives without mercy. Attacking the Sky people gave them a reason to come out and destroy hometree."

This time, Jake could actually feel the reaction without having to see the look at the leaders' faces. The Omatikaya were the ones closest to the RDA and had the closest experience knowing about the nature of humanity through them. The other clans hadn't seen Sky people until the battle but over time, word got to them about the aliens who landed on Pandora and the descriptions the people told them came as well. But it wasn't until Jake reached out to them that they learned the essentials about them from gossip spreading through the battle camp.

"If we kill them now and word reaches their home world of Earth, then the leaders of Earth will have a reason to allow the evil Sky people who came to Pandora to return with even more devastating weapons. You saw today that we were barely able to stop them. If they return with more warriors and more machines, we will have no hope of stopping them. We cannot let them see us like this. If we are to keep our people safe, we must show that we are the honorable people. If we show compassion and let them leave alive, we will not be the savages the evil sky people want us to be."

The group was silent for quite some time. The leaders and warriors where either at a loss of words or were thinking very hard about what their people would want. Jake knew it was hard for some Na'vi warriors to stand down. It just didn't feel right to stop fighting. It just felt like cowardice. But then there were their people's lives to consider. The warriors fight to protect them and they would do anything to make it happen. If standing down would be the way to keep their people safe, then they would have to oblige.

After about 15 minutes, the leaders and the warriors finished talking quietly to each other and looked back to where Jake sat. Jake took this as his cue to speak.

"It seems we have had time to discuss the matter. What say you at this time?"

"I have agreed the lives of our people are most important at this time," The clan leader of the horse clan who Jake first met on the journey to gather the clans said. "I stand with you to let the sky people go."

Jake nodded at him and looked at the other leaders and they all raised their hands and weapons showing their agreement to the position. Jake smiled briefly.

"Irayo," Jake replied.

"However, there is still one thing that concerns me," The horse leader continued.

"Please, speak," Jake said.

"I am concerned about the threat of the Sky people returning," The leader talked very smoothly. "I have heard from my warriors that these Sky people 'lie.'"

Though the word seemed to hit Jake a little hard, he didn't feel surprised when the word came from the leader. The Na'vi had no word for lie in their language. It was rather obvious because the Na'vi wouldn't have a reason to lie because they all were raised together and all Na'vi cared for one another. They were all honest with everyone including the Na'vi of other clans because they were hardly any enemies to each other. He figured that the clan leaders would learn of the word and more about the audacity humans were capable of with it.

"If I am correct in what 'lie' means, then the Sky people will still claim we are the evil ones."

"I am aware of that," Jake replied. "But I have a solution to this problem."

Jake raised his hand and splayed his five fingers out at the leaders.

"If you remember or recognize now, I am a dreamwalker; a Sky person whose sprit walks in a half na'vi half Sky person body. I had learned many things from the Omatikaya when I came to them. When they were attacked, I could not allow the Sky people to destroy anymore. I, and a number of Sky people, stood up and fought alongside the people."

Jake paused for one moment.

"But what I did not know before was that there were a select few among the Sky people who came from their home world of Earth to become the eyes of the blinded Sky people on living on Earth. They hate the evil Sky people who destroyed the world all Sky people, good and evil, shared. And they hate the same people who threaten to destroy another world that could be their only path to salvation."

The leaders and warriors were taken aback by his words. Many of them now looked curious and wanted to learn about these new sky people he talked about. Even Neytiri look very eager to learn when Jake looked back at her when he paused. He never got around to telling her about the activists from Earth until now.

"These sky people fight the evil ones in a different war. A war not fought with weapons, but with words. They fight the lies the evil Sky people give by hunting for the truth and bringing it to the good sky people. They learned that many of the plant life Ewya has created could be used to heal Earth and restore it back to how it once was. They fight for their people and world and they fight for this world and the lives of the Na'vi."

It seemed Jake now had everyone to agree with him now from the silence that took a hold of the group. There were no objections anymore nor did any person show any sign of rejection.

"As of now, they now have a plan to bring the truth to their people and to bring the seeds of change to be buried into the soil. Once they have grown, the land will begin to heal and the sky people will begin their journey to salvation. I only ask that you agree to this plan and accept to fulfill this duty for the sake of your people as well as the Sky people who fight for you."

The eyes of the leaders showed they understood how much weight the situation had but at the same time the understanding of humanity's capability of good out of the terrible mistakes that clouded their image. One by one, the leaders and warriors raised their hands and said, "I stand with you." When all of the Na'vi had spoken, Jake felt Neytiri's hand on his shoulder and he turned his head to her. She looked into his eye and said, "I stand with you." Jake smiled and gave her a quick kill on her cheek before returning to the leaders.

Now that he now had the Na'vis' trust and support, told his plan to them. Once they had forced all of the Sky people off the planet and the good ones, the scientists, avatar drivers and Matt's people, would stay. Once they were gone, the Na'vi would begin the process of rebuilding and bring the pieces back together. Then, once everything was rebuilt and the clans would go their separate ways, the clans would become alert to report anything that could mean the return of the sky people and they would attack immediately if they were hostile to not allow the sky people to gain a foothold. He also explained in the years to come, things might change on Earth and Sky people may return but they could be good sky people. The clans understood their responsibilities and they would work to fulfill their duties. Jake felt relieved when he finished his plan and knowing the leaders accepted it. The leaders, warriors, body guards, Neytiri and Jake himself, then dispersed and went their ways in preparation for the departure of the Sky people.

* * *

><p>After about an hour of setting arrangements, remaining Valkyrie sat on the tarmac with its cargo bay open. And with the open shuttle, the passengers came as well.<p>

The Na'vi warriors and avatars toting machine guns stood in a double line that led up to the shuttle and the humans walked in a crowded line from the base entrance all the way to the shuttle. Jake stood a third up the line from the shuttle holding his own machine gun. Neytiri stood beside him with her bow in one hand and next to her Norm and Max stood side by side wearing their exopacks and holding two assault rifles they acquired from the armory.

Jake looked down at the line of humans as they passed by. Only about two and a half dozen soldiers and pilots survived the battle and the rest of the commanding officers and security personnel around the base when the battle took place were rounded up. Jake saw their faces when they walked by, empty, almost emotionless but some did show a little fear from the big creatures looking down on them. Others in the pack were average operator people who performed simple tasks like running the ops center. They looked terrified and very uneasy when they walked by looking very occasionally at the blue aliens pointing their bows at them. Then there were what was left of the ruff looking miners who just looked big but not much else. Many of them perished when they were ordered to acquire a weapon and join in the attack on the Tree of souls. The other miners who either were unfit to work out in the field anymore or survived the attack just walked with some of the same amount of fear the operator geeks did. And from all of the classes of RDA personnel that walked by, several walked with crutches and castes. There even was one patient who had to be rolled on a stretcher to leave.

As he looked upon the grim, disheartened, empty and fearful faces, Jake caught sight of one that took the crown of the emptiest of them all. Selfridge walked with his head bent down and his hands in his pockets. He lifted his head and looked up at Jake when he passed him. Jake saw almost nothing in Selfridge's eyes, nothing that remained. He did see however, things that were there before but were long gone now like tire tracks on a road. Selfridge wasn't a man who wanted bloodshed, only to get the job he wanted to do get done and keep his position in the company. But the pressure from the company seemed too great when he chose to continue with the operation and people died in the process. Jake could see empathy and regret from the times he looked at him when they talked before and after the battle but it wasn't enough to keep him from doing what he did. Now all Jake could see now was an empty and lost soul in a frail and weak body. In response to his look, Jake gestured his head to tell Selfridge to keep moving. Selfridge did so with his head down in misery.

Then, a few lengths down the line, he saw Matt Harrison raise his head to allow Jake to see his face. When Jake looked down at him, Matt shot a brief grin and winked at him before putting his head back down. Jake assumed that he blended back in good enough and his boys were able to slip out of being thrown in line and not be noticed to be missing from the returning crew. With no one using logs to keep track of the personnel leaving or to report the K.I.A.s and M.I.A.s, the spies could just disappear and not be seen as a part of the uprising. This would be good for Matt because with no potential traces to be followed, he wouldn't be a suspect leaving the shuttle as anyone else would be when they made it back to Earth.

After every single body was squeezed onto the overcrowded shuttle, Jake walked out of the line and looked at the shuttle as the bay door closed and the engines began to ignite. Neytiri came to his side and held his arm as the engines started to scream and the shuttle lifted off the ground. When the heavy beast was clear of the ground and the fences, it tilted its engines forward and gradually gained speed. Jake watched it move slowly at first as it flew into the distance. As it accelerated, it became smaller and smaller until Jake could no longer see it from where it stood. At that moment, he heard a number of voices cheer behind him. The other Na'vi hollered out to express their victory and a number of avatars whistled and cheered along with them. Jake only stayed silent with Neytiri by his side and stared at the sky where the Sky people flew away.

"So, it is over," Neytiri softly said.

"Yeah," he turned his eyes to hers. "But it's also the start of something better."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> There is still more to come in this story. I've been planning the next chapter for a while so hopefully it won't be long before I get it written. I just want to say thank you all for reading and following my story and I hope you are really enjoying it so far. :)


	17. Reassurance

Reassurance

Jake sat alone on the side of the river. He took the rock in his hand and scraped the wood he held in his other. He had learned carving skills over the three months as a student but then again, arts and crafts wasn't one of his specialties. Never the less, felt the work he was putting into it was good enough for him.

When the RDA took off, the day was nearly done. Jake stayed at the base and sheltered in the Avatar compound bunk house. Neytiri joined him. Jake lay on the bed and Neytiri cuddled next to him. She fell asleep shortly after he disconnected from his avatar and landed back into his human body. The next day, after Jake had woken up and eaten a decent human breakfast, he immediately went to the link chamber and reconnected. Neytiri was already up and about waiting for sleepy head to wake up. Shortly after he and Neytiri fed themselves, with foods made for avatars, quiet an adventure in itself, Jake summoned Tourk and both of them flew off to the first part of the agenda for the day.

Because her Ikran was killed, Neytiri couldn't fly by herself anymore. And she wouldn't be flying for a while. Jake knew when he climbed his way up iknimaya that the bond between banshee and rider was very strong when he claimed his own. It was like the relationship horse riders had with their horses on Earth decades ago only that the rider and steed on Pandora could be seen almost as equals and it was not easily replaceable. It would take a long time before Neytiri would claim another Ikran if she ever chose to fly again. For now, she would either ride with him with Tourk or on Direhorse.

During the night, it had rained and most of the ash that was around the ruins of Hometree had washed away. Some of the land was still bare with patches of burnt dirt but some color had returned to the scene.

The first part of the day's agenda was to have the clans travel to Hometree for a salvage job and to bury the dead around the tree as a monument to the lives lost in the war. When Jake and Neytiri landed and looked upon the runes again, they could defiantly feel the tension building in each other from the ghosts that now haunted the area. But, from what Jake saw when Neytiri helped with recovering the items and moving some of the bodies, she was able to hold everything together. She must have been able to gather enough strength to overcome the sadness of the memory of the infamous day. Still, he stayed silent, careful not to bring any person, not just Neytiri, over the edge of what they could sustain. He helped navigate through the burnt interior of the tree and recovered what tools which were still useable and what artifacts which were still relatively in one piece. Everyone skimmed the tree top to bottom and even below it in the ritual chamber and recovered a number of things from family belongings to daily tools and a number of ritual artifacts including the sacred Blue Flute which, surprisingly, didn't have a scratch.

After the items were recovered and where sent with the riders who returned to the battle camp at the Tree of Souls, the burials were dug for the Na'vi who had fallen in the attack and they brought some of the bodies of the warriors who died in the battle of the Tree of Souls. No amount of mental strength could make any sensible person impervious to pain and remorse from seeing the haunting sight of men, women and children laying all dead on the ground. But the one thing one could do was to filter the pain through the body to not allow it to overwhelm the person. That was what Jake did throughout the short war that took place and what Neytiri managed to do when she returned to what remained of what was once her home for as long as she lived. As the bodies were lowered into their graves, people who where around stopped and paid respects to several of the dead before the graves were covered. Amongst the buried was Eytukan, Neytiri's father. Both she and Jake made it to his grave right when he was about to be buried. Neytiri managed to keep most of herself together when she stayed by her father's side for almost five minutes before the dirt was set in. Jake only stood silent to let Neytiri have her last moments with her father.

Na'vi weren't the only ones buried around the tree. The body of Grace Augustine was taken back to Hometree as well as her Avatar to be buried as well. Max, Norm, a number of her colleges and number of the activists flew in on Samsons to attend her funeral. She may have died at the Tree of Souls where she most wanted to go to, but her body belonged among the people that grew to be the closest thing she had to a family.

While Jake and the rest of the warriors were at the base making plans for the RDA's departure, the rest of the scouts searched through the battlefield for anything they missed and to bury the dead RDA people's bodies as a form of respect. The Na'vi would be honorable like they always have been. During the search, one group had found Trudy's Samson and pulled her burnt body from the wreckage. Her face and the rest of her body were unrecognizable except for the ID tag around her neck that read Trudy's name. She thought ahead and kept it on just in case something like this would've happened during the battle. They brought her body over to the tree and showed the body to Jake and the rest of the humans. Jake took it in like everyone else. Norm seemed to be the one who was affected the most because he knew her the most over the three months he was on Pandora but he managed to hold it together. She was buried next to Grace's burial.

After everything was done and all the bodies were buried, Jake gave a small speech. He said that this place would be remembered as the place where the time of great sorrow began and the bodies buried here would be a reminder of what happens when people forget to see and listen. But the burials also would represent the souls who have passed on and will forever live within Ewya. With Grace's human body and Trudy's among them, the burial was dedicated to all good souls from both near and a far. It would forever be a symbol of acceptance of any good person into the hearts and minds of all noble souls.

Once everything was done, everyone left for the camp. Before Jake left, he broke off a piece of wood from Hometree and took it with him as he rode to the camp on Tourk with Neytiri. When they arrived at the Tree of souls and the camp surrounding it, Jake went down to a nearby river alone to craft the bow he still needed to make. He still wasn't considered a warrior of the Ometikaya until he crafted his own bow from the wood of Hometree. It wasn't mandatory now but Jake felt it still was necessary.

After about an hour or two of scraping the wood lengthwise, he felt that his work was good enough for now with the shape and weight of the bow. It wasn't the greatest form of craftsmanship for a Na'vi weapon, but Jake believed it was acceptable and it would do. He gently put his work to his side and dipped his hands into the water and drenched his face. When he was finished and he rehydrated himself he took a deep breath. But then he looked to his right and he noticed someone was standing next to him. He looked up and saw it was Mo'at.

When Jake thought about it, he hadn't see Mo'at in all the time he gathered and led the clans to war. He'd been very busy. It'd probably be the time to finally talk to his mother-in-law now that things had finally settled down.

"Oel Ngati Kameie, Sa'nok," Jake stood up.

"Oel Ngati Kameie, Jakesully," she casually said.

The greeting was met by a short but incredibly awkward silence. Jake hadn't had much preparation for talking to his new mother-in-law after all the ups and downs had finally been straightened out. From day one, Jake had a feeling that Mo'at could see something in him when she gave Jake a chance to embed with the Omatikaya but he never really could find out for sure from the lessons coming at him from every side.

"What troubles you?" She asked breaking the silence. Jake looked up into Mo'at's eyes when his full attention went to her.

"Uh…what do you mean?"

"You act unstable. Something keeps you from acting and thinking clearly," Mo'at stated calmly, "Tell me, what is it that troubles your mind?"

It was almost as if Mo'at could read his deepest feelings even though Jake thought he didn't have them. Something was bothering him but he didn't allow himself to realize it.

"It's just that," Jake muttered, fumbling a bit with his sentences, "I feel uncertain."

"About what?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's barring the burden of having the warriors I led into battle die while I lived."

Mo'at was silent for a moment.

"Every warrior experiences these feelings after battle and in time they learn to let them go. But I believe something else is the trouble."

"I guess if it isn't that, it must be about me handling my new promotion," Jake replied.

"Why do you feel uncertain about being Clan leader?" Mo'at said understanding the slang that Jake used.

"It's just… I don't feel that I'm the best man for the job,"

Mo'ats narrowed her eyes a bit showing she showed some surprise in Jake's response but her face also showed her patience stood firm with him.

"I do not understand why you would feel this way? I believed you have done well in leading the people as Tourk Makto."

"Yeah, well, war is different than peace."

"And you believe leading people in peace is harder than leading them in war?"

"I was a Jarhead. The thing that we were good at was war." Jake sat back down and brought his knees up to his chin as he looked across the river.

Mo'at still showed extraordinary patience with him. It was like speaking to a disheartened child who lacked confidence. Mo'at was still a mother so she knew how to talk to children when they feel down or upset.

"I know many things are never easy for any person, Jaksully. But nevertheless, all people know their duty to the people and Ewya and they work to fulfill it," Mo'at walked slowly behind Jake and stood at his other side. "I know you may not realize your duty to Ewya yet, but you had fulfilled a duty you had for yourself by fighting for the lives of the people."

Jake turned his head up to Mo'at. Neytiri must have talked to her about his conversation with her about the Marine Corps and other things.

"I know that your mind was lost among the Sky people and my daughter was able to open both your mind and heart to something that could give you something in return. If I am correct, you have found this world to be the home you have always wanted?"

Jake opened his mouth but all that came out was a choked "I." When he realized he couldn't get anything out, he closed his mouth and bent his head back down. He didn't know if he tucked his head because of shame or something else. But whatever it was, Mo'at took it as a confirmation to her question. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"I do believe you can lead the people in peace. You chose to spare the Sky people's lives for the greater good of both the people and the Sky people. You used wisdom to make a decision for the people. Wisdom is the most powerful tool for a leader. You may not think you had wisdom before, but you had it when you made the decision to protect the people and to allow the Sky people a chance to change."

After a brief pause Jake stood up and faced Mo'at.

"So, you think I'm able to do it?"

"I have faith that you will not only be able to lead the people like many of the leaders before us but you are also able to lead the people onto a new path. You have been able see our ways along with the few among the Sky people who allowed themselves to see. You have showed us your kind could learn more than they had. But you have also taught the people many things as well."

"I did? How?"

"You were right that it was the wiser choice to leave Hometree to live. You knew what the Sky people would do and you knew we could not fight them at the time. And when we were broken and in agony, you came back to us to help all of us."

"Well that was because you told me if I was one of you I should help you and you cut me loose right?"

"I believed it was before. But I now realize it was not because you act and think like a Na'vi. It was because of your soul that was able to see the better part of the world you were born in despite the fog that clouded so many. That better side allowed you to open your eyes to everything when the time came to become the person you are now."

"So you're saying I taught you and the people the values of a marine that I learned on Earth?"

"From what my daughter told me, you believed you lost everything when you told the truth to the people and you came back because of a duty you had as a warrior. It did not matter if the people who needed help were Sky people or Na'vi, you came to aid souls who needed help to fulfilled a duty you had for yourself."

Mo'at paused and put her hand on Jake's shoulder again.

"You have restored my faith in believing that some day there will be no barriers that divide the Na'vi from the Sky people. Hopefully, they can learn much more from us as we continue to learn more about them."

Jake was at a total loss of words from the little speech of what he didn't realize he did until now. His emotion was unclear but it was something that surged through his entire body filling it with very deep energy. At one moment Jake almost felt like he was going to shed tears. But he managed to hold them back when he looked back up at Mo'at and said, "Thanks."

"No. It is you who needs to be thanked. And that is why I have come to you."

Jake looked up at Mo'at again. "What did you want?"

"To tell you that the people want repay you for everything you have done for them."

Jakes eyes opened a little bit. "And how are they going to repay me?"

Mo'at put her hand onto Jake's chest this time. "The people know that you dream to walk among us. Some do not know how much of a burden it is to you to have your sprit trapped in a form that is broken. What the people want to do is to allow you to walk among us without having to dream to do it again."

From the moment she finished her sentence, Jake never felt more excited in his life. He was careful not to let out his joy in front of Mo'at by saying, "Are you saying that… they want to have Ewya work her magic for me?"

"The people believe that the best way to show all their thanks for you is to allow you to live without anything that holds behind. But the choice is yours if you want this to be done."

Jake looked away for a couple of seconds "Does…does Neytiri know about this?"

"She was the one to suggest this because she knew about you're burden and told the people of it."

"I accept then." Jake felt full of energy when he replied. He tried to control the energy to not show too much eagerness like a child knowing he was going to get what he eagerly wanted for so long. Mo'at seemed to understand because she gave a grin like a mother did when they saw their child when they were so happy.

"Then it is decided. Tonight we will perform the deed. The people will be very pleased to hear of this."

"Alright," Jake said smiling. After a few seconds Jake moved down to picked up his bow. Mo'at still stood where she was when Jake collected everything.

"So you're cool with me being with your daughter now?" Jake said to Mo'at after the brief silence. He knew Neytiri was to be mated to Tsu'tey to become Tsahìk of the clan. But now that Jake was Clan leader, she now would be Tsahìk after everything that happened.

"My daughter chose to be with you for a reason and Eywa has allowed her to be mated to you. I understand why because of what you have showed all of us. You are a very dedicated and compassionate man with a heart as strong as hers. Her father and I had made a mistake in believing we could choose the right path for her. I see that the path she walks now is one that she will be very happy to take. As of now, I am very grateful for my daughter to have a person like you as her companion."

Jake felt flattered by Mo'ats reassurance to him.

"Then I promise I will look after the people and Neytiri." Jake said.

"And I am confident you can do it."

Jake smiled and walked from the river up to the camp.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> It's been a little difficult lately finishing this up but I managed to get it done and I'm happy for it. Also I've been going back and refining the chapters with improving errors and adding new content. Also Why I fight has some changes too. And just so you know, I'm starting class next week so it might be a while before the next one so I apologize right away.

As always, I hope you really enjoyed this chapter and the rest of the story and if you would give me a review on how I did or what you liked about it, that always makes my day. See you soon. :)


	18. The road ahead

The road ahead

When Jake returned to the camp, he couldn't help noticing a slight difference in the peoples' behavior when he passed by. Before the battle, the warriors whom he passed by acted a little bit more concentrated on what they were doing so to make a good impression to the mythic warrior whom leaded them. This time, they acted a little bit more excited and attempted to be more casual because they didn't know if he knew the surprise that they had for him yet. To not allow them to have a clue, Jake suppressed his smile as he walked up through the camp.

He finally found Neytiri in the camp sitting next to another Na'vi woman in front of a fire pit. When he approached, Neytiri looked up and stood immediately. It was silent around them but the conversation between them came from reading each other's eyes. The uneasiness shown in Neytiri's eyes meant she asked the question, "Do you want this?" to him. Jake's answer couldn't be clearer when a grin started to grow from his mouth. When Jake began to chuckle, Neytiri's face lit up with her own smile. Jake dropped his new bow onto the ground and darted forward and Neytiri did the same. After the immeasurable time it took to come together, Jake wrapped his arms under her and lifted her off the ground. Neytiri had her arms around his neck when she laughed as Jake spun around with her up in his arms. From his joy that he shared with his mate in front of the rest of the Na'vi, they took it as conformation that he accepted the gift they wanted to give him and they cheered. When Jake finally stopped spinning and put Neytiri back down onto her feet, he smiled and waved at the cheering Na'vi showing his gratitude to them.

The Na'vi planned the transfer do be done at sun set. Both of Jake's bodies would be brought to the tree of souls and they would all attempt to move Jake's sprit permanently to his avatar body. Once the deed was done, the Na'vi would have a glorious festival in Tourk Makto's honor for what he did for them and for the end of the war. But before then, they would need to hunt for the food for the feast that would be a part of it. The war had taken a toll on the population of the both the Na'vi and the creatures who came to their aid in the waning moments of the battle. The Na'vi would be careful with how much stearmbeast they hunted and would be even more watchful of how much they would eat in the upcoming days when they would help rebuild the Omaticaya clan.

The Na'vi invited Jake to take part in the hunt saying they would be honored to have him lead it. Jake accepted. But instead of flying on Tourk, he reached out to his original Ikran to follow in the main stearmbeast hunt. Other hunters would go looking for hexipeeds and others would collect fruits other foods that weren't so hard to get. Neytiri would stay behind and help gather foods while Jake went out with the hunters. It did feel very disheartening that she wouldn't be able to fly through the sky with him like when she did the days after Jake claimed his Ikran now or for a long time in the future. But she had no reason to feel unhappy now because in a few hours she would be able to truly be with Jake for the first time. She would no longer have to have the feeling of only being with someone who was only partly there. Jake's sprit would now and forever be inside the body she knew him most in. Even when he fell asleep with her lying by his side, Neytiri knew she would never be alone with a lifeless body that she slept next to.

Jake returned with the other hunters after about two hours of hunting with a good amount of game. The people quickly got to work cutting up the stearmbeasts to get the meat off the bone and to use the rest of the parts of the body for future use. Na'vi never let anything go to waste. And after the war, they would need to make sure to make every last resource count in the upcoming months until everything became balanced again. Jake found her shortly after the hunters returned with the game. The day was nearly done and the ceremony would take place in a few hours. There were a number of things Jake still needed to before he would disconnect from his avatar and come to the people in his human form for the ritual. He called for another speech with the people and the people who weren't too busy stopped and stood before him listening.

"Thank you, everyone," Jake said to the crowd of Na'vi. He raised his hand everyone quieted down to have him speak. Like he did all the times he addressed the Na'vi, he asked Neytiri to translate. The small conversation between him and the leaders was a chance to improve upon is language skills with some references to Neytiri to say the more complex sentences he was shaky on. This time, like when he addressed the people before they rode out to the clans and when he addressed the clans to come

"Yesterday, we rode into battle. The enemy was relentless and we had lost many of our people. We all have lost someone close and our hearts ach for them. But in the end, with Ewya's help, we have defeated our enemy and saved our people from a certain doom and the evil sky people are now banished from our world. And in that time, we have made new allies who have helped us and will help us in the years to come as we continue to help them. In time, our hearts will heal along with the forest as we set out for a new beginning."

Jake paused to see the crowd's reaction to his speech so far they all seemed pleased.

"You have believed that Tourk Makto was the one who brought the clans together and brought victory to the people and you wish to repay him." Jake said and Neytiri translated. "I accept this gift with great gratitude."

The Na'vi cheered as the translated words left Neytiri's lips.

"However, I must ask you for one more thing before I accept this gift." The na'vi became silent.

"I made the choice to become Tourk Mokto to unite the clans to save the people from the great evil that threatened the survival of all life of this world. Now that the war is over, Tourk Makto is no longer needed. After the ceremony is complete, I ask you to not address me as Tourk Makto, but by my true name; Jake Sully, Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya. You will not dishonor me by addressing me as Tourk Makto but you would do me greater honor by addressing me as I wish to be."

Jake looked at the people when Neytiri translated his request to them. They all seemed to have understood Jakes reasoning and they seemed to acknowledge his request from their body language.

"Thank you. Before we part to prepare for tonight's celebration, I will say that I think you for giving me a opportunity to live among you in this world I have found to be home."

* * *

><p>Jake looked up at the massive Tourk atop the ledge of the arc he climbed up to say goodbye to his valiant steed he flew to lead the people to victory.<p>

"You did a good job out there," he spoke to Tourk looking into its front right eye. "I don't know if you don't like good byes. But I don't have much use for you anymore."

Tourk made a low growl after Jake spoke. Through the brief moments, Jake did feel attached to the creature as much as his own Ikran. Parting was tuff after all.

"But look on the bright side, you can go back to being a free flyer and go around plucking some pesky banshees out of the sky. You can have dinner and a show again. And you don't have to listen to me anymore and do whatever you want whenever."

Jake Tourk dipped his head and Jake looked deeper in the king of the sky's eye. "I'm glad to have flown with you into battle and it's time I let you go. Just one thing before I let you go, if you can remember: try not to pluck me out of the sky when I'm flying around with my banshee. I really hope you can do that."

After his last look into the creature's eye, he let his hand go off the creatures crest. The creature reared back and beat its mighty wings down and lifted up off the arc. Jake lowered himself so he wouldn't be thrown off the arc from the air blown down on him. Once the creature was clear of the arc, Jake stood again and watched the creature fly away to the horizon until he became insignificant and couldn't be seen again.

The light was fading and soon it would be night and time for the transfer of his soul to take place. He needed to disconnect from his avatar and get his human over to the tree of souls soon. He climbed down the arc to the ground where Neytiri was waiting for him. They smiled at each other briefly and began to walk hand in hand to the spot in the woods where Jake would disconnect from his body. Once he disconnected from his body, the Na'vi would then perform small a ritual to bless the empty body that would soon be his permanent shell. Then Jake would get one of the pilots to fly him in his human body out

Jake lay down against a tree and Neytiri sat down next to him and looked into his eyes. Before Jake closed his eyes and would force himself to sleep and wake back up in the other body, he looked into her eyes that showed all the love he knew she had for him as well as a little eagerness in them. Tonight, and for the years to come, they truly would be together with no strings attached.

Jake gently put his hand to her cheek and she put her hand atop his.

"We'll be together soon," Jake said and leaned up too give her one last kiss. She accepted it. Once it was over, slowly Jake leaned back and looked up at the coming dusk sky one last time before he closed his eyes and he felt himself fade away.

* * *

><p>Jake opened his eyes inside the link chamber. Seconds later he moved his hands up and the cover of the link rolled up. Jake sat up and stretched his only working upper body. He looked to his side and found his wheelchair right where he left it next to the link. He hoisted himself up out of the gel bed onto the chair and pulled his legs out with his arms and put them back in front of him.<p>

Every time he woke up in the link chamber, he had always felt depressed. Not this time though. This would be the last time he would have to use the link chamber ever again. Tonight, he was going to leave this body behind and everything else behind. He needed to go and tell the others, he realized and to say goodbye.

Jake rolled into the lab. It was mostly empty except for about seven people who stood around in different parts of the lab. Everyone else, both scientists and former spies turned specialists, were spread around the empty base doing other things. Jake rolled up to a group of people who were talking. He saw Norm in the group and as if on cue and by convenience, the other scientists finished their conversation with him and left. Norm turned his head to see Jake when they left.

"Hey Jake," Norm said a little surprised. "You're out of the link a little early aren't you?"

Jake smiled from the comment because Jake always stayed in the link for hours and hours when he was learning the ways of the people.

"Yeah well something's special going on tonight,"

"A party?" Norm guessed thinking about what was special when a war ends.

"Something like that. I need Max to hear about it too."

"I'll go get him," Norm went turned and when though the lab to the other side while Jake waited to tell both of them the good news.

"You serious?" Norm asked.

"It's basically the only present they can give me to show how much they thank me."

Jake told bot Norm and Max everything of how tonight he was going to leave his human life behind and live like a true inhabitant of Pandora.

"Well this is just fascinating," Max said. He had heard about how Grace didn't make it when Norm received his call in the shack after the battle. After Max told Norm that the base was captured, Norm told him about how the Na'vi tried to transfer her sprit permanently to her avatar to save her. Max hadn't had much time to think about this phenomenal capability of the network he followed in researching with Grace and now he showed his fascination clearly now. "Are you sure it will actually work?"

Jake did have a few doubts deep down knowing that the last time the Na'vi tried to do this, it failed and Grace faded away. But this time, he wasn't going to be mortally wounded so his souls wouldn't have as much difficulty getting out of his body without losing connection to living.

"Mo'at seemed pretty confident when she told me so I think it'll work. I don't have anything to lose here so why not," Jake looked

Norm smiled and chucked, "Not much here for you with us geeks talking about all the bullshit to the 5th power?"

Jake knew he meant it as a joke. "Well, that and… " he looked down at his two useless pieces of bone the hung over edge of his chair.

"Plus you've got a girl who needs someone like you to have around so she doesn't feel alone all the time, huh?" Norm said smiling again.

Jake could feel some of his blood rush a little faster but he attempted to stay cool and not have his face go flush. He grinned knowing it was pointless to hide it all but kept most of the embarrassment concealed.

"Yeah well, whatever the true reason," Jake quickly moved the subject in a different direction, "I just need to tell you guys so I can say goodbye and to get one of our more faithful flyboys to give me a lift one last time."

"Alright then," Max said, "It's getting late so we should let the pilots know so they can fly you to your special party before it gets dark. Should I tell everyone else about it?"

"Go right ahead," Jake said.

Max got up and began to walk out of the lab to find the other people to tell them the news.

"Norm," Jake said before Norm left with Max, "I need to talk to you about something else."

Norm sat back down again. Jake looked down for a moment trying to for what he was going to say.

"I…I just want to say that…" Jake slowly said. "I'm sorry that… things didn't turn out the way you expected before."

Norm lifted his eyebrow, the way people do when they didn't understand what the other person was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"That you trained for whatever amount of years to be up here while I just fell in and became the lucky dog." Jake tried not to make his sentence sound too pitiful because the jealousy Norm had when Jake started to embed with the Na'vi months before might return. But he felt it was too late when.

"I thought we were over this, weren't we?" Norm said. Jake couldn't exactly tell if Norm suppressed some agitation from the reminder.

"Well, yea… I just wanted to say… I'm sorry you're not going to be able to go out to Na'vi again because your avatar's shot up." Jake looked down, realizing he could be just making the conversation worse. "It… was your vision to come up here. You worked hard and I…"

"Hey, it's fine," Norm said to stop Jake's bickering to make his point around. "In fact there's a little something I need to show you too."

Norm stood up and walked through the lab and Jake followed. Norm walked up the window to the room where his and Jake's avatars where brought out of the amino tanks and were laid onto the beds to be connected to for the first time. Jake rolled up and looked in the room. He saw a single bed sitting in the middle of the room with big blue figure lying naked and with much of its chest opened up. The site was a little revolting at first but Jake recognized the face of the Avatar a second later.

"What's your dead avatar doing here?" Jake said.

"For something that just might work," Norm said back looking down at Jake away from the window.

"When the Na'vi found the body, when Danny went out to get the shack and bring it back to the base, we I flew with Aiden out and pick it up. We observed the wounds and we think we might be able to bring it back to life."

"How do you do that?" Jake asked.

"The AMP suit pilot who killed me in my avatar shot into the chest. What we might be able to do is to take tissue samples of the damaged origins, flash clone them, and replace the damaged ones with the new ones."

Jake did have an idea of how flash cloning worked of how they take a sample of an origin and create an entire origin using the DNA of the sample.

"Are you sure you'll be able to pop back in when you get everything back together?"

"We have a better chance from what we have. If the bullets would have ripped through the brain, then we'd have almost no chance with what we have. If we're able to put the origins together and if not much of the spine is broken, we might be able get pull this off. Because Avatar's are basically 'dead' when we don't use them, this might greaten our chances because we don't need the entire body fully operational to be able to work when I use it."

Jake stayed silent to pounder what Norm had said.

"So, are you still cool with me being the leader of the Na'vi and all?"

Norm took a deep breath. "I was pissed earlier of how you got lucky and where the cultural ambassador and all. But you know what, I managed to get to do what I wanted to do up here after all; I got to meet the Na'vi and I'm still taking part in the research of this planet," Norm paused. "You know how Matt said he came up here to get the truth out to earth and help save it? Well I came up here to see all these amazing things and now I'm taking part in discovering how more of Pandora can be the key to saving earth. It's like I'm doing my part while Matt and the activists are doing theirs. Your part is leading the Na'vi to that better tomorrow while we help humanity get to theirs."

Jake looked down and though about what Norm said. Norm had a mind that he could use to discover new things about Pandora. Matt had the cunning to get to Pandora to get the truth out to earth. Jake only had physical skills to use. But all of them shared one thing, a strong will to drive them to meet their goals. From what happened, Jake found his goal to lead the Na'vi from the ashes and onward to the better tomorrow that awaited them.

"Okay, looks like everything is fine then."

"It is indeed," Norm said.

Just then Max returned to the lab.

"Everything is all set. All we need is one crippled marine who's not going to be crippled anymore."

"Alright, I guess I'll get ready then," Jake said.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> College started so it might slow some things but I'm almost done with this story. Also I'm currently writing another Fic called "Regret", a little story that follows an RDA Soldier during his tour of duty on Pandora. I'll be working on the next chapter for that and a better tomorrow in the coming weeks so stay tuned.


	19. Homecoming

Homecoming

"Well uh... I guess this is my last video log. Cause whatever happens tonight... either way I'm not coming back to this place."

Jake looked into the camera as he recorded video log 98. For 98 days, he recorded his video log for the days. This would be the last day but also the first day of the rest of his life. Jake looked away from the camera for a moment and smiled at the thought. About 15 minutes earlier, he had a little time to take in his last moments in the bio lab and the link chamber to reflect on the life he was about to leave behind for good. After he had his moments, he activated his log and spoke about his last thoughts he would have in this body that had meant nothing to him for years.

"I guess I'd better go, don't want to be late for my own party," Jake said. "It's my birthday after all." Jake smiled to himself and paused one last time. "This is Jake sully signing off."

Jake turned the camera off. When the screen went off, Jake felt the silence around the dark link room embracing him. He took a moment to take it in but he didn't dwell in the silence for long. He had a party to go to and he couldn't keep the people waiting for him. With a smile Jake swerved himself in his wheelchair around and rolled out across the platform and passed the doorway that lead to the biolab. Norm and max were waiting for him there.

"Time to go," Jake rolled pasted them without stopping and both of the scientists followed. They moved quietly through the quieter base. The lights had been dimmed to conserve the energy supply. After Jake took in the moments of wheeling through the metal halls one last time, they came to the airlock that lead to the landing pad. They grabbed their exo-packs and opened the second door when the chamber depressurized. They walked out across the very desolate and wide landing pad to a lone Samson whose engines idled ready for departure. The dusk light was shining dimly on the pavement from the sun setting in between the mountains in the distance. Jake could only think about what Neytiri and the Na'vi must be feeling waiting for him. He had to get there right away.

A crowd was waiting at the Samson. All the scientists and activists were lined up at the Samson. They all cheered as Jake strolled up to them and he smiled as each of them gave him a pat on the back and congratulated him. When he reached the Samson, he lobbed himself up from his seat on the side of the bay with help from Norm and Max. He crawled up and sat onto the chopper's bay seat and strapped himself in. He wouldn't need his wheelchair when he got to the tree so he left it on the tarmac for the other people to take back into the base when he left. Norm and Max climbed in when Jake was secure.

"Well I guess this is good bye then," Norm said over the noise of the rotors.

"Until you get your body patched up. Then you can poke your head around as much as you think is polite. I'll tell the Na'vi all of you are welcome to visit."

Norm smiled and put his hand on Jake's shoulder. "It's been a good time."

Jake turned to Max and he shook his hand. "Hope you can stay alive so you can continue to do some good."

"We will," Max smiled.

With a last set of pats on the shoulders, Norm and Max hopped out of the chopper back to the rest of the good people left on Pandora. When pilot Aiden and co-pilot Danny got the signal that they were clear, they gunned the throttle and the aircraft lifted off the ground and ascended into the air leaving the gray pentagon, and the small group of people standing in it, behind them as they flew with their passenger to their destination.

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><p>Neytiri crouched up upon her perch on top of the arc looking out at the mountains in the distance in the fading light. She kept her eyes open for the aircraft that would be coming through the formation any minute. The Na'vi were all set for the ritual, with the avatar blessed and striped of clothing and waiting to be permanently reanimated. All they needed now was the donor to deliver his soul to the body.<p>

The light was nearly gone when a noise began to hum in the canyon and slowly grew louder. Neytiri looked out and saw a small object the not so dark night sky fly toward the well of souls. That was her cue to climb down the arch to the ground to the landing zone Jake told her he'd come to.

Neytiri emerged into the clearing of the landing zone and saw the Samson drift down to the ground pushing the air down blowing out through the grass and her hair. She stood as the metal chopper gently touched down onto the floor. Inside the cargo bay, she saw Jake release his safety harness and crawled out to the edge of the bay. Neytiri walked up to the chopper with her hand up to block the air the aircraft pushed out.

Jake looked up at Neytiri when he made it to the edge of the bay of the chopper. He looked back at the pilot in the seat who looked back behind the door of the pressurized cockpit. He gave a salute and Aiden saluted back. He then looked back at Neytiri and gave her a signal to pick him up. She did so very cautiously. Jake felt himself lifted off the metal platform and pulled close to his mate's chest like a cradled baby. Neytiri then turned around and walked cautiously away from the aircraft, making sure the gust of air wouldn't make her lose balance with the important part of the evening event in her arms. Once she was a good distance away, the two pilots saw them and pulled the aircraft up and started to make their egress back to the base. Once the aircraft disappeared from view above the canopy, Neytiri looked down and Jake looked up. They saw each other's eyes and both showed the excitement and anticipation about the event tonight.

"We'd better get ready should we?" Jake said.

Neytiri smiled and nodded walked up to the center of the arches.

When they were close enough to the outside of the entrance to the well of souls, Neytiri stopped in a small set of trees and put Jake down onto the ground. When they tried to transfer Grace's soul, they needed to remove all of her clothing. Jake started to remove his own clothing as soon as Neytiri set him down. Jake told her that didn't need any help doing so. While he worked to remove the last human clothing he would were ever, Neytiri reached up to one of the nearby trees and started to collect some vines and leaves to cover the basics. Jake worked hard on his pants with his two dead limbs being his hassle once again. But this moment wasn't as frustrating like every other time before because this would be the final time he would have to do this ever. This would be considered a reminder of what he was leaving behind and it felt satisfying to do it one last time. Neytiri returned with the leaves in her hands just as Jake got his pants and the other article under it off. As much as people would find what was below his waist revolting, Jake didn't feel ashamed in front of Neytiri even with the bony legs that she had never seen bare before.

The last article was his shirt and his exo-pack was still on. Neytiri knelt down as Jake prepared to quickly remove his mask to get his shirt off. Jake inhaled a deep breath and popped the mask off his face and Neytiri held it in front of him while he quickly reached behind him and pulled his shirt over his head and out over his shoulders. Once it was off, his tossed it aside and immediately grabbed the pack from Neytiri's hand and calmly put it back onto his head, reactivated it and inhaled again. Now that the scariest part of the evening was over with, Neytiri relaxed and handed the vines to Jake who started to put them onto the essential parts.

"Alright ready to go," Jake said looking up at her when he finished.

Neytiri picked him up and cradled him in her arms again. They both smiled at each other and she began to walk up to the well where everyone was waiting for them. As they approached the lip of the well, the other Na'vi who couldn't fit into the well stood and watched as Neytiri walked by with the soul of their champion in her arms ready to be reborn.

When they made it to the lip of the well, they saw the people sitting on the floor of the well humming in unison with the beat of the light emanating from the ground. Before she took her next step, Jake reached over with his small hand and touched Neytiri on her shoulder, she looked down at him.

"Can you do one thing for me before you bring me down?" Jake asked with his voice muffled.

"What is that," she replied.

"Please try not to cry when I come out on the other side? This is supposed to be a happy moment."

Neytiri smiled and said, "I will not."

Jake nodded and he moved his head down to the tree in the middle of the people surrounding it. Neytiri then slowly descended down the path of roots making sure she didn't go down too fast. She carefully navigated her way past the humming Na'vi up to the tree where Mo'at was waiting. Jake's Avatar body was there already laid out on the base of the tree with the clothing already removed. When she came to the base, she gently knelt down and laid human Jake adjacent to his avatar and pulled her hands away soon afterwards.

Jake looked up at Neytiri when she sat down at the edge of the dais as he felt the thread like roots begin to crawl over his body and began to encase him and his avatar. He breathed slowly as the roots completely encased him in the cocoon as the ritual began. He heard Mo'at begin to chant and sway on top of the base from the corner of his eye and he heard the Na'vi all around him follow in. His eyes were focused on Neytiri who knelt down and gently held a hand on top of his chest encased in the cocoon.

As the ceremony began to go full swing, Jake could feel the energy pulse around him through his skin encased in the roots. He felt his energy and strength decrease every second. It was like the moments before you slept when your mind finally comes to rest and your body follows shortly afterward. He still looked up at Neytiri who still looked down him like the guardian angel she was. When he felt the threads begin to form at the base of his neck, he noticed that a dozen woodsprits flouted down and began to dance over his body. Jake smiled as he watch a few of them dance over his head. His vision began to fade and he felt that he was falling out of his body. The last thoughts he had were the parts of his human life that no longer had any grip on him anymore.

Neytiri watched as Jake's eyes closed slowly until both pupils were completely concealed. After five seconds, she then knew that the soul of the man she loved was no longer imprisoned in the broken form she looked down upon when the woodsprites ceased to dance and floated up from the body. She spoke to her mother telling her the role she and the people played was finished and it was all up to the great mother to bring him back into his new form. Mo'at spoke out to the crowd and they all fell silent in an instant. Neytiri gently removed the mask from the human's head and placed aside. Slowly, she bent down and planted two soft kisses onto both of his eye lids. Then she gracefully stood and stepped to the other body where the woodsprits now floated over. Careful not to disturb the sprits, Neytiri leaned over and placed her hand onto the body's cheek and looked into the closed eyes, waiting for what she knew would happen next.

* * *

><p>Jake felt weightless; like he was falling up into an endless sky. He could see a bright collection of colors swirl around him. But the thing that surprised him the most was he didn't feel like he had eyes or anything that resembled a body. He didn't feel a head, hands, a chest or any body part. It was like being nothing but something at the same time; like only existing in pure energy and emotion. From what he could feel, he was a state of pure tranquility; like being everywhere at once. He could feel the whole planet surge with the force of life. Then he could suddenly hear voices. Like the voices he heard when he connected to the tree of voices when he had mated with his true love. Only this time, he could hear more voices. People would say that if you heard a lot of voices at once, you would feel overwhelmed from the intensity on your mind. But what surprised Jake was he could hear the voices with plenty of understanding and control and felt totally at peace as he heard the range of voices echo around him.<p>

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. He found himself standing on a shore next to an ocean. The land wasn't like what he had seen before at night even on a planet like Pandora. Everything had a specific aura of light surrounding the sky the water and the ground around him. It wasn't like bioluminescence, it was something else. He felt himself in a body except he couldn't tell if it was human or Na'vi. He looked around and saw figures moving across the beach and swimming in the water. He could hear laughter and he could feel emotion like it was a physical force surging through the land, air and sea and into him. He felt himself blink and he felt he was hurtled into weightlessness again with no feeling of body. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on top of a large mountain. Like what he saw before, the land and sky glowed with the aura of colors too great to be bioluminescence. He saw creatures flying around him and more humanoids standing across the wide ridge in the distance.

When he closed his eyes one more time and opened them again, he found himself standing in the well of souls except when he looked around, no one was in the well but him. The ground under his feet glowed with the same radiance as it had before he left his body except it surged with more colors with a pattern that surged in every direction and it even surged up into the sky.

Jake turned around to the tree to see someone sitting on the base of it looking right at him. The person had blue skin that illuminated with a soft white glow and was clad in a brown jacket, a maroon tank top under it and cargo shorts. Jake recognized the face of the person immediately.

"Grace?" Jake opened his mouth and his voice rung out in an amplified tone that startled him for a moment when it gently echoed through the well.

"Who'd you expect numb nuts?" she replied like the first time she talked to him when they first met in avatar forms. She swung her feet out and stood up in front of him.

"What is this?" Jake asked.

"Well isn't it obvious? Or have you been deaf over the last 3 months," Grace said smiling.

"So…this is Ewya?" Jake replied looking around.

"Only a part of her," Grace said. "She's more than just one object. She's everything under the ground you stood on."

Jake slowly exhaled, feeling a pair of lungs in his chest again, as he looked around at the aura colored landscape.

"So, this is the afterlife, huh?"

"I didn't believe it first, but yes. This is where every soul goes."

Jake paused for a while, "And… the others… are they here too?"

"Why don't you just ask them yourself?" Grace said and moved her eyes from Jake to look at something behind him.

Jake looked around and found four figures standing right behind him. Three of them were as tall as he was and glowed with the white aura onto of blue skin. They had no cloths on but the aura around them made it look like they had a translucent robe over their bodies. The fourth figure that stood from the right of them was half the height of them and wore a familiar white tank top and cargo pants and a black pony tail hung from the back of the figure's head.

Jake's eyes widened when he recognized all four of them. Tsu'tey smiled with his crocked smile like he did when he watched Jake make a fool of himself during the three months of his tutoring. Jake's eyes moved to the center of the three figures and he recognized it was Eytukan. But he wasn't like the old man Jake remembered. He looked ages younger like in his mid-thirties by human standards. Next to him was a woman who looked about the same age as Neytiri did. Jake examined her face and he remembered the photos of the school. It was Neytiri's sister Sylwanin. In the photo, she was about 2 years younger than Neytiri but she looked like what she would look like in a few years' time. And down next to her was Trudy who did not look any different than she was the last time they saw each other.

Eytukan stepped forward slowly up to Jake.

"I see you, my son." Jake could hear him speaking in Na'vi but in his head, he heard English words run through his mind at the same time.

"I see you, father," Jake uneasily replied.

Eytukan smiled and spoke again.

"I desire to speak to you to ask for forgiveness for my reckless judgment before. I see now that you are a committed soul who fought to protect those he loved and I cannot be any prouder than to have my daughter have you as her companion."

Jake took a quick glance as Tsu'tey expecting jealousy on his impulsive move. But Tsu'tey showed none when he simply shot a smile back at him. Jake returned his gaze to Eytukan and took in a deep breath.

"I've already forgiven your daughter who felt the same way. So I forgive you and I hope that I can prove that your vision of me can be fulfilled in time."

Eytukan simply smiled bowed his head. "Tell my daughter I love her when you return to her."

Jake nodded his head back and Eytukan stepped back.

Next Tsu'tey walked up to Jake. Tsu'tey looked into Jake's eyes and Jake saw what Tsu'tey felt through his eyes. All through the three months, Jake saw quite a bit of jealousy in Tsu'tey's eyes when he was starting to do well in the ways of the people. When the war started and Jake returned, Tsu'tey showed a lot of respect and professional obedience for him. Now, he looked very relaxed and perhaps even playful like a squad mate you hung out with at the bar talking smack in between tours of duty.

"It was an honor to ride by your side, brother." Tsu'tey said

Jake was silent for a moment trying to think about something to say. "We uh… never had time to talk about things did we?"

"I forgive you, Jakesully, just as you have forgiven the people. I was reckless just as everyone else. Neytiri loves you and nothing can change that. You deserve to be with her and she deserves to be with you." Tsu'tey still held his smile as he put a hand onto Jake's shoulder. Jake saw Tsu'tey's eyes and they read that everything that Tsu'tey said was true. Jake smiled and gave Tsu'tey a pat on the shoulder back.

Next to step up was Sylwanin.

"I see you, Jakesully. I am glad to finally meet you." She said. Her voice was very much like Neytiri's only it sounded a tad bit higher in pitch that distinguished her from her sister.

"I see you, Sylwanin," Jake said. "Your sister misses you very much."

"I know she does," she said. "I must ask you tell Neytiri something. Tell her I am well and I am happy for her."

"I will," Jake promised.

Jake turned his head and looked down at Trudy now.

"You're one lucky bastard you know," Trudy said in that clever and familiar tone that showed she was still one tuff girl. Jake didn't know what to say to that.

"Don't worry; it's all great over here on this side. Tell Norm that when you meet him on the other side. And make sure you please that girlfriend of yours."

Jake smiled and exhaled through his nose knowing that Trudy hadn't changed a bit.

Grace walked up behind him. Jake turned to her.

"You've done a good job marine, but your time hasn't come yet."

As soon as she finished her sentence, Jake saw a number of lights appear all around him through the well of souls. He began to hear voices singing around him and all the lights began to materialize into Na'vi. Jake then knew that they were the Na'vi who had died in the war and had passed on. They all acted happily as they sung together around him.

Jake looked back at Grace. She smiled and stepped forward. She put her hands onto his shoulders. And from behind him, Jake felt three more pairs of hands touch his back and one hand touched his hip. Jake turned his head to see the others come and encase him in their hands like the ceremony when he became one of the people. The rest of souls joined and formed the web of arms around him. Jake felt a deep energy brewing within him that came in from all directions of the outside. He felt as if the world around him was growing brighter and brighter every moment. He looked up and closed his eyes but even with them closed the light of the world shown right through his lids. He suddenly felt as if everything around him begin to dissolve and his body began to disappear as the light shown at its brightest.

* * *

><p>Jake opened his eyes. He felt himself lying on the ground. When his vision came to focus and his senses filled in all the gapes in his body, he felt a smooth hand on the side of his cheek. He saw Neytiri looking down at him with a very radiant smile illuminating her face. Jake lifted his hand, broke it out of his cocoon and reached up to Neytiri's face. He rubbed his hand gently around the unique features and he knew that she was real and he was there with her.<p>

"I see you," Jake whispered.

Neytiri rubbed her thumb across his cheek before returning, "I see you, ma Jake."

With the strength that came into his body, Jake broke out of his cocoon and stood. He was naked and he knew that the other Na'vi were seeing him but neither he nor the people cared. What mattered to him was that he was alive in the body he could be himself in and he was standing there with the one person who he loved. He lifted his arms, moved them around her and he pulled her close to him. She wrapped her hands around his neck and they hugged tighter than they had before. Jake closed his eyes and heard the voices of the Na'vi around the well cheering in the distance as he took in the first moments of the rest of his life.

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><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned because I am almost done.


	20. Together at last

Together at last

Jake watched uneasily as the Na'vi lowered his old body down into the fresh burial they dug up. Once the body was put in, the Na'vi decorated the burial with flowers. Neytiri crouched down and held out the wooden box containing Jake's photos and precious items that he had shown her in the avatar compound. She tipped the box over and its contents dropped down onto the bottom of the hole, right next to the body's face. His tag, medal and photos where gently arranged for the others to see. Jake looked down at himself, seeing the reflection of who he was back then. So much of him was left behind when he left for Pandora, but so much had stayed with him even after he learned the ways of the people. Those things that still resided in him along with the new things the Na'vi gave to him made him who he was right now. As the dirt was set in, Jake knew he was finally free.

The party that followed afterword was as festive as Jake expected it to be. The Na'vi feasted on the foods and danced wildly around the fire; releasing all of their energy and sprit into the festival. Jake watched from the side for a while and ate his fill in the stearmbeast meat he helped gather. Along with the luscious meat, he helped himself to a cup to the Na'vi drink that was introduced to him by Tsu'tey during the first hunt festival during his lessons. It was his birthday so why not have a good drink? But he would only help himself to one cup tonight. He wanted keep himself sober enough for something he would do after the party.

He saw Neytiri move and bend her body around the fire with the other female dancers. Their bodies moved seductively to the melody of the instruments and the beat of the drums, drawing the eyes of the spectators around them. Seeing her move the way she did made Jake think about how grateful he was to have that person be his partner for the rest of his life that started this night. It wasn't only because she was the most attractive and beautiful female among the Na'vi, but it was because of a strong but graceful soul lived inside that body.

After dancing for a few minutes, she and the other dancers dispersed from the stack and came to the spectators around them and brought them into the dancing area. Neytiri brought Jake up and Jake came into the fire. Even though he knew he wasn't good at dancing, he danced anyway. It was his birthday so no people would laugh if he messed up. As he moved himself around the fire, the only thing he could see was Neytiri dancing with him. He saw he smile as they moved together and she could see the passion and joy in her eyes as they did.

When the music stopped for the time being, time stood still as both of them looked into each other's eyes. Jake saw Neytiri's passion and desire for him burning inside her eyes. He couldn't deny his when he knew she showed hers. Neytiri gently held Jake's hand pulled as she began to walk. Jake followed as they both left the light of the fire out into the colorful lights of the forest.

* * *

><p>They walked hand and hand through the forest until Jake slowed down and Neytiri stopped when she felt her hand pulled back. She turned around to Jake who let go of her hand and bent his head down.<p>

"Is something wrong Jake?" Neytiri asked.

Jake looked up. "There's something I need to tell you. But…" He paused, "I don't know if it's the best time."

Neytiri placed her hand onto his shoulder and he looked into her eyes. "Don't be afraid, Jake. Please, tell me."

Jake exhaled from his mouth slowly. It was the first night they were together. He needed to trust her if they were going to live the rest of their lives together. Jake exhaled a breath from his nose and looked down.

"When I went through Ewya, I saw the people who passed on. Grace was there, Trudy was there, Tsu'tey was and..." He looked up at her, "Your father and sister were there."

He paused to let Neytiri take it in before he continued. "Eytukan told me to tell you that he loves you and Sylwanin says she's ok and she's happy for you."

Jake did feel afraid for what would happen when that last word left his lips. Though Neytiri told him to not be afraid, he still was because he cared for her and he never wanted her to feel bad ever again after seeing her heart break again and again on that infamous day. He fought so hard not to show his fear through his eyes when he watched Neytiri react to his words. She stepped back and bent her head down concealing her face from his view. Jake didn't know exactly how Neytiri felt; her body language was unclear but it didn't express sadness from what Jake saw.

After a minute, Neytiri raised her head and looked at him. Jake saw no tears that ran down her checks or any ready to be expelled from her eyes. Her face was very composed and didn't show any traces of sadness. Neytiri walked up to him and placed both of her hands on the side of his neck and looked into his eyes.

"Thank you, Jake." She said before planting a kiss onto his lips. Even though the kiss felt warm and soothing as it always was, Jake still didn't feel reassured of himself about her. She pulled her head back when the kiss was over.

"So…you're alright?" Jake asked her.

Neytiri looked into his eyes.

"I am glad you told me because I know that my father and my sister are well. And if my father told you to tell me he loves me, then he must trust you as my mother trusts you."

Jake nodded his head. "He told me he was glad to have me to be your partner because I'm committed and I fought for those I loved. I told him that I hope that I can prove him right someday."

"You have already proven that to me. I cannot be any happier than to be with you."

After seeing a light grin from Jake's face, Neytiri took a hold of his hand again and pulled him with her deeper into the lush labyrinth of color.

* * *

><p>Jake looked out to the beautiful display of iridescent light. The trees glowed in their mesmerizing radiance. The water below reflected the pattern of colors in its crystal blue surface while adding more colors to the scene from under the surface. And high above, the glow of Polyphemus filled the sky with a mesmerizing blue glow that filled all the gaps in between the stars that glowed in the vast void of space.<p>

After observing the scene for a slow moment, Jake turned to face Neytiri who stood beside him. Seeing her face now made it feel like they were meeting each other for the first time all over again. Her face and her eyes showed just how beautiful was. Jake could see the gracefulness and purity of her soul that resided inside the elegant body that stood before him now.

He gently placed his hands around her waist while she placed her hands on the sides of his neck. Her eyes looked deep into his and he felt the hypnotizing feeling that always came to him when she did. She leaned forward and placed a kiss onto his lips. From the contact of her lips and the touch of her skin, Jake felt the soothing sensation flow through every nerve in his body. At that moment, Jake knew she wanted him and he wanted her too. He responded by moving his hands behind her and brought her body to his. Nothing mattered to them now except to have each other. All their worries and cares about the future melted away in the heat of their ever growing love.

As the series of kisses continued, Jake moved his hands down to the base of her tail and undid the strap of her loincloth. He took of hold of it when it came loose and he gently tossed it to the ground away from them. Neytiri paused and pulled her head back to look into Jake's eyes again. He felt Neytiri's hands doing the same thing to his cloth. She slipped it off and discarded it like he did with hers.

They knelt down in each other's embrace. Once they were on their knees, Jake reached behind her again and gently removed her chest piece from her body and placed it aside. Neytiri removed what was left of the accessories around body. Nothing now separated them from the feeling the warmth of their bodies to be felt by one another.

They laid down side-by-side on the soft bed of moss as it illuminated to the contact of their touch. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Jake ran his hand down Neytiri's chest following the pattern of her bioluminescent markings. His eyes observed the surface of her skin and the curves of her body as his hand traveled all the way down to her thigh. Neytiri returned by moving her hands slowly over his arms and chest and dug her fingers into his skin feeling the muscles underneath.

When they met each other's gaze again, they knew both of them wanted the same thing now. Jake brought the tip of his queue from behind him and held it in front of him as Neytiri brought hers out. Slowly, they brought the tips closer, the tendrils waving freely waiting to be connected. Once they saw the tendrils start to intertwine, they closed their eyes and waited for what would follow. Once the tendrils ceased to move and wrapped around each other, it came.

Jake's body shook as a surge of emotions shot through his body. His heart began to race faster and his lungs quickened to keep pace. He felt all of Neytiri's emotions and feelings flow through him as though both her sprit and his own had become one thing through the connection. He felt joy and happiness fill his heart with its energy along with all the emotions that surged through him. The pain from pervious experiences accompanied them but it was met by compassion and empathy so it made the bond between him and her only stronger. And greatest feeling that surged between them was the feeling of pure pleasure and bliss that made their desire for each other grow with every passing moment.

They opened their eyes to find that person they loved laying right next to them. With the love that surged between them, they came together and melted into each other and into the night.

* * *

><p><em>You are <em>_Omaticaya __now. You may make your own bow from the wood of Hometree. And our may choose a woman. We have many fine women. _

_Naynat is the best singer._

_I don't want Nanat. _

_Beyral is a good hunter_

_Yea, she is a good hunter… _

_I've already chosen…but this woman must also choose me._

_She already has…_

_I am with you now Jake. We are mated for life._

* * *

><p>Jake exhaled slowly as he blinked his eyes slowly looking up at the bare sky that shined in its starlit brilliance. He heard the gentle sound of the water running down the creek filling him with a relaxing feeling to his resting body. He felt the warmth of the body that lay on top of his own simmer through his skin and reached into the deepest parts of his body.<p>

Neytiri rested her head on top of Jake's chest. Her body stretched down the length of his, falling perfectly into place as if both of them were made for that purpose. Her breath caressed his skin while he felt her tail brush lazily atop of his legs. He felt her heart through her chest, beating in tune with his own.

It felt so good to make love to her again. To embrace everything he loved about her in a great display of passion, pleasure and bliss. Even after the energy was gone, the happiness and joy still remained in both of them and would carry on to their dreams.

_Dreams_

Jake's mind sparked suddenly. His body made a miniscule jerk as his muscles briefly tensed. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for Neytiri to feel even in her exhausted state. She opened her eyes slowly and moved her head up to look at Jake.

"Is something wrong?" She asked in a very calm way.

Jake looked down at her. "Sorry…" He said before he continued, "I just had a thought about something."

"About what?"

"Well, tonight, I'm going to fall asleep. Only this time I won't wake up on a different side. I don't have to be afraid to sleep again because I know that when I do, I will always return here when I'm done regardless. I don't have to make myself believe that I'm actually out here because I really am out here for real."

He looked down at Neytiri's face seeing all of her beauty from her eyes and everything else. He raised his hand and tenderly stroked his fingers across her face and ran his fingers through her unbraided hair.

"And the best part is when I return, there'll be someone waiting for me to come back and you can't imagine how happy I am about that."

Neytiri smiled.

"You should be happy because that person loves you with all of her heart."

Slowly and gingerly, she crawled up his body until her head hovered over his own. She lowered her head and gave him another kiss. Jake accepted it and embraced it. After she gave him her gift, she pulled her lips away and looked down at him with her two unmistakable eyes. She held her hand out over him. Jake moved his hand up and wove his five fingers into her four. They gently squeezed their hands together. Jake gave her an honest grin and from that moment she knew that he was happy and everything was as he wanted it to be.

She crawled back down to where she lay before, putting every part of her body back perfectly into place on top of his own. She released her hand from his grasp and placed it on top of his body as she lowered her head back down on his chest. She closed her eyes as she listened to Jake's heart beating slowly but strongly inside of him. Jake moved his hand back to hers that rested on his skin and gently held it.

Jake lay his head back down and stared up at the stars one last time. After a few moments of taking in the brilliant scene, he felt sleep pull the lids of his eyes down like a curtain closing on a play that ended. Jake welcomed it because he knew that a new one would open the next day. Right now, he would finally rest his tired soul in peace and be ready to wake up to a new day as a new person.

After everything that happened, after all the misfortunes and turns of events in his life, he found a way to a new world that he never thought could be the next step in his life. And after all the ups and downs in the wild environment, in the end he not only managed to bring himself up from the ground, but he managed to bring many others up when he saw them fall. Now for once in his life, he felt complete in his life. Complete because he found something worth fighting for. Complete because he found somewhere he felt he was welcomed and he could call home. Complete because he found someone whom he loved and loved him back.

He closed his eyes and he felt himself fall into a dream, a dream that would remain after he awoke.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I apologize if this chapter took a little too long to put up. It's been busy in college and I haven't been able to get the right words for this. But otherwise, I've managed to get this done and show it all to you who've followed my story. I thank you for reading and enjoying my story so far and I really thank you for reviewing.

Now, if you've read my other fics, you'll notice that this is different than what I wrote in "Love." That's true because I attempted to write a remake of it and you'll notice that there is another story I posted with the thing words. So if you want to comment on how I fit this chapter into A Better Tomorrow, review here. If you want to give thoughts on how "Together at last" compaires to "Love", review over there.

There is one chapter left for me to post in this story so stay tuned. I have plans of what I'm going to do after I finish "A Better Tomorrow" and I'll share them with you in the author's note of next chapter. See you next chapter. :)


	21. A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow

_One Year later…_

Neytiri held her bow by her side as she watched the children splash into the river laughing with joy. As the children played, the adults stood by the shore and launched their fishing arrows into the water. A woman stepped passed Neytiri down to the shore with her bow carrying her baby in her carrier. The baby looked around and looked at Neytiri with two eyes sparkling with life. All Neytiri could do was smile.

Over the months after Jake's birthday, the clans helped out with the reconstruction of the Omaticaya. Most of the warriors returned to their clans including most of the leaders while others stayed behind to help with the upcoming project. The Omaticayahad selected a new hometree and everyone got to work on clearing out the interior to make it a live able area like the old one. The elderly, children and their parents were offered shelter at the other clans while the new hometree was created. The Na'vi who stayed behind to work started clearing out the base of branches and roots and moved on to create the spiral walkway up the trunk. On many occasions, several members of the avatar team swung by to give a helping hand.

The process took 5 months to clear out the wood in the base of the tree and to carve out the trunk. The trimmings and smaller features would be finished later as the Omaticaya settled into their new home. The other Na'vi said their goodbyes, while others decided to stay and join the Omaticaya to fill in the remaining numbers, and headed back to their clans and told the Omaticaya guests to return to their new home.

Over the next few months, the Na'vi slowly began to resume their lives in peace. But they knew as well as the other clans that they needed to be on their toes just in case the RDA came back sooner than expected. The scouts were always vigilant when on duty scanning the sky as well as looking out for their clan's daily threats. Despite the potential danger, the people hardly worried about it. Right now, they were happy because the time of great sorrow was long behind them.

As a part of the reconstruction, the Na'vi brought back a casualty that fell before the war started. When the trees-of-voices were bulldozed, only one small and frail willow out of the former grove survived. The grove was burned and scorched after the Na'vi attacked the diggers so the patch of land would be bare for some time. The Na'vi took the surviving willow and broke apart the branches and brought them to a new location. Along with a small amount of branches methodically taken from the tree of souls, the branches were planted in a new groove near the new Hometree. The process for the new tress to grow would take years or perhaps even decades but when they grew, future generations would be able to cherish the new sacred place just as their ancestors had.

Over at hell's gate, the scientists and everyone else who were chosen to stay on the moon shut down all the mining facilities and constructed a number of solar panels and started to produce wind turbines to power the base. Over the months after the RDA's departure, the staff had done a number of things in their spare time. Research of Pandoran flora and fauna continued like normal. They shut down the parameter fence turrets so they wouldn't kill any creature that got too close. It was dangerous for them to let the defenses down but they placed up a number repulser pods as a non-lethal alternative to keeping wild life out of the base. The Na'vi also offered prayers for them to allow the humans safety from harm for good measure.

With the wood they scraped out of the new Hometree, the Na'vi and Avatars constructed a new school in a small canopy of trees and hills half a mile from the new Hometree. They took the supplies and materials out of the the old school and tore it down afterward, leaving the haunted structure to be consumed by nature in time. When the new and larger school was finished, they moved the repaired shack to the school and set up a small encampment for the avatars and the drivers to settle there. Among the avatar teachers stationed there, Norm led the way. The process was long and tedious but in the end, Norm's avatar body was saved and after a while it started to function properly. As Jake promised he told Norm about Trudy and Norm took it well.

At the new school, not only did the Avatars teach children English, they offered to teach any Na'vi who wanted to learn, young and old, other earth languages and about the history of humanity and the cultures of what humanity once was. This started before new Hometree was finished so a number of Na'vi from the other clans learned some English and a number of things about humanity that they could share with the other clans. The lessons were completely optional and just for the sake of understanding humanity's cons but also its pros. And it was important to understand humanity if the Na'vi were to encounter more of them in the future.

During the year, the people at Hell's Gate didn't have any contact from the ISV pipeline or from earth. They assumed that the RDA saw the planet was compromised and the pipeline didn't have the man power to take it back so they called all the craft back to earth. The humans didn't know if this meant the company was mobilizing or if they've given up but either way they wouldn't let their guard down.

Everyone knew that the RDA was still a potential threat but what everyone on the planet did a year ago had to happen. After the fire was set and burned, in the end, the planet and its people were spared. Now, if things went to plan in five more years, the RDA would be challenged by the public and that might just give both Earth and Pandora a chance to survive. For now, peace was upon the planet and everyone embraced it.

Jake walked up from the shallows with his catch of the day. Neytiri stood above him as he tossed the fish by her feet. When he saw the look in her eyes, he placed his hand onto her abdomen. She placed her hand on top of his as he looked up again. New life was coming and he and she would cherish theirs until and after the end of their days. Then, they turned their heads to the morning light as it shown in its brilliance on the horizon. They knew the future would be unpredictable and it was seen to have many complications down it. But passed everything, everyone saw one thing that was clear; hope. Jake never felt more confident and hopeful about the future in his life and he knew Neytiri and the rest of the people shared it too. Things were different than they were years ago, and that was what made everything better. They all knew they were closer to that better tomorrow and today they would all proudly walk toward it.

* * *

><p><em>Five years later and 4.4 light years away…<em>

Matt walked down the night street with his hands in his pockets. He kept his eyes in front of him and didn't divert them to the advertisements blaring all over the city the streets. Things hadn't changed much when he left for the moon, considering that it was the same city plunged into darkness with commercialism and ignorance. The only things that were different were the amount of housing that was built onto the existing buildings and the new products advertised and the new brands of the products.

He managed to get passed security, acquire his belongings, with his precious cargo undetected, and received his pay. The pay was a little smaller than promised because of the events but it didn't matter to him. After Matt was reassigned his new residence, he soon picked up the trail of the activist group to rejoin them. The movement kept a very low profile so they wouldn't be sniffed out by the RDA so they wouldn't be able to undermine their efforts. The group never kept a list of names or meeting locations to stay hidden so they set up a network to inform their members and to leave breadcrumbs to the ones who went up to the moon so they can return in the dozen years to find their way back. Sure enough, Matt did find his way. The membership had grown and Matt didn't expect to find any familiar faces considering they would all be 12 years older from when he last saw them.

The RDA hadn't told the public about what happened on the moon and they tried to keep it a secret and covered it up when in the media. The RDA did have their own media center to broadcast their reports to the public but other broadcasters still existed although they weren't as popular. Before he was given his belongings back and was free to return to his reserved residence, the RDA told the employees to keep quiet about the incident. Not that it mattered because the only things that the returning employees could give to the public were their words that the RDA can disregard as exaggerations or inaccurate accounts of the real events. What the RDA wouldn't expect is to have their official documents and tapes of their actions, both on Pandora and on Earth, to be given to the press and to have the genetic codes for cloning plants to other laboratories. Ignorance was the RDA's greatest strength but they would soon lose it.

When Matt returned to the group, he showed the data to the people meeting together and told them about what was happening on the moon the last time he was there. Afterword, everyone took copies of the information and spread it to the other members across the nation and the world careful not to distribute it too publicly so they would be traced before they would make their move. Some would pass on several documents and audio logs to a number of employees of news companies to have them go public with the stories once the activists were ready to put the rest of the content on the internet. Next, Matt and others visited the labs of the "Cause" organizations to hand off the genetic codes of the Pandoran flora to be sensitized and create the plants to produce the medicines for the pharmaceutical market and all the other uses to help the planet and humanity. They told the organizations to keep a very low profile about the codes when they made the drop off telling them to keep quiet until the activists went public with the other info.

The RDA wouldn't be crippled and out of business from just the disturbing of the content because the world still had large energy needs. Unobtainum was still needed to power the world and no known alternative was known. That was until Matt read a document suggesting that the RDA had a working antimatter reactor design that was 1000% more efficient than all the other reactors around in service. If this information would get out to the public, the reactors would be updated and less Unobtainum would be used thus extending the years the world could be powered with the amount of Unobtainum the RDA had in stock. What was even more revaluating was that the RDA was holding a scientific theory behind its firewalls about a potential lead to an alternative to Unobtainum. The details were sketchy and the rest of the documents about it were probably concealed behind higher security that wasn't connected to the main RDA network. It was a major score for them regardless because if this theory existed, there was a way to use the theory and Unobtainum would no longer be the only life blood of the economy.

Matt made it to his destination he needed to be for the event. He reached the door of the apartment building and pressed the buzzer. The screen emerged and Matt scrolled through to floor 17, room number 17-124 and selected it. Another screen emerged and it showed a scruffy black man's face looking at him. Behind the man he saw two people sitting at a computer.

"Where're you going?" the man said to Matt.

"A Better Tomorrow," Matt fluidly said as soon as the man finished the question.

"Then you've came to the right place," the screen went dark. Matt opened the door and entered. After riding the elevator up, Matt walked down the bleakly lit hallway passing the even numbered rooms until he found 124. He gave a knock and the door slid open a second later and Matt stepped in. The black man stood in front of him as the door automatically closed.

"You've got what we need?" he asked Matt.

"Depends if you and your boys did their job and are ready for the show, Rob," Matt coolly replied.

Robert made a small grin, "You know us; we're always ready to spread the word to the folks."

"Then I guess I'm the one who's not done his job yet." Matt smiled and reached into his pocket. When he pulled it back out, it had a data drive in it. Matt held it in front of him and Rob took it from his hand.

"Thought for a moment you wouldn't make it in time for us to get it up."

"Yeah well, I'd figure I'd take my time admiring the ignorance surrounding the city that before I see it all lifted. Plus it might get a little boring waiting around in here for the light to go green."

Robert smiled again. "Well I wouldn't blame you for taking in that because things will be different."

Rob turned to the computer where the other two men were waiting. Matt walked up and leaned against the wall as they inserted the thumb drive and worked to upload the data.

"How much time 'til Showtime?" Robert asked after a few minutes of fiddling with the computer.

Matt swung his wrist out and looked at his watch. "Ten minutes to reflect back at all the work everyone put in to get a moment like this."

"Good." Said Robert and was silent for a while.

"You know, we still have a long way to go even after this."

"Yeah," Matt said.

"I mean there will still be a lot of loose ends to cover to get Earth to even start to get out of the shithole it's in, you know? Like rights, society, countries, and laws and all that shit not to mention trying to keep things together as time passes."

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure that ride will be eventful and it might be even fun since we have afterburner this time. Better late than never, would you say?"

Robert gave a soft chuckle in his throat, "'you looking forward to standing around and organizing communities to get the world to get to work?"

"Why not? Might be a good change for once since all that most people did the last century and a half was doing nothing. And it might be good see people around you think for once."

Robert smiled again, "One step closer."

Matt smiled back, "Better than no step at all."

He looked at his watch again. "30 seconds. Get ready."

"We are," Robert said with his finger ready click on the icon to upload.

"Ten… nine…eight…seven… six…"

As Matt counted down the seconds, all he could think about is what the newscasters would say in the morning news when they would get the reports of the RDA info and when the Labs would put the Pandoran products on the market for uses of healing the intoxicated land and for people to use for their health. All and all, everything meant that things would be different.

"Five…four…three… two… one,"

_For mother Earth, her sister Pandora and all their children._

Matt watched the second hand align with the minute and hour hand at twelve. He looked up and saw Robert pressed the button and the screen prompted "Upload Complete," a second later.

"So…where are we all heading off too?" Robert said.

Matt smiled, "A Better Tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> I finally got it done and I really hope you enjoyed this. Since this is that last chapter, I'd like to give you a reflection on this story I decided to create. You don't have to read this if you think this would spoil what you just read but you can if you want to. At the bottom, the last paragraph is about what's next for me and what stories will come out next.

I started having ideas for this story when I was trying to address my Post-avatar-depression (PAD). I basically wanted to write a story of about getting back up on your feet when you fell down. What it turned to be was a chance to make an extension into the universe and to build bridges between the people that inspire many fans and humanity that has much to learn.

You may know that many avatar fans feel depressed about being human after seeing the fantastic life of the Na'vi and you might know some who have lost a lot of faith and trust in humanity as a result. What I tried to do was create a story that basically says that both humanity and the Na'vi are not completely wrong or completely right. Humanity would have a lot more flaws compared to the Na'vi if they existed but that doesn't mean the Na'vi are perfect as a result. In my story I wanted to show you don't need to be blue or think blue to see. All you need is a brain and a heart. It doesn't matter if you're six feet tall and have white or black skin or whatever. It doesn't matter if you're 10 feet tall and have a tail. "Sprit is all that matters."

You don't have to feel ashamed about being human. I've found many enjoyable things in my life that can be designated as "human" and I like them along with the other stuff that is Na'vi. You could say I'm standing in the middle of my bridge and I hope I've managed to give you a way to do the same.

The greatest way I expressed this bridge, I believe, was in chapters 4, 5 and 15 when Jake spoke about the Marine Corps and how its influence was one of the things that drove him to come back to the Na'vi and help them. I'm very supportive of the men and women in uniform overseas protecting their countries and loved ones and I believe that those ideals of "For honor, for country, for brother" are in jeopardy. I believe that honor still exists in the ranks of our soldiers and soldiers can share the same values as Na'vi warriors do. I believe those ideals should be recognized and supported by all of us so the people in uniform won't become like the RDA mercenaries.

Another way I wanted to build the bridges is the activists from the Activist survival guide. I haven't found a single fic that has a story about the book so why not bring it in? Ordinary men and women can make a difference and that's a story that I believed to be one to include.

I know that many of you are wondering if I would address the future issues of the return of the RDA and what Jake would need to do in the future as clan leader from a number of reviews. I tried to put that in this epilogue because I'm not planning to write about anything beyond this because James Cameron left it where it was. I like to stay as canon as possible so I didn't want to go too far and touch on the ground that JC will cover in the sequels. That's why I left my story with an open ending like the film did. I hope you can understand and I hope that I didn't disappoint you because of that.

Despite my commitment to canon, I admit I did make a number of mistakes.

I found out recently that according to the Avatar Wikia, Sylwanin is Neytiri's older sister. I didn't know in advance and the collector's edition didn't indicate whether she was younger or older. The photo of the children sitting in front of the school showed Neyiti hugging another Na'vi girl who looked very much like Neytiri. I assumed it was Sylwanin. So I hope you can forgive me for that if you had the impression she was an older sister.

Also from the Wikia, it had a timeline that didn't match my time frame at one point but now it matches most of it now. At some point I'm going to go back and make some changes like Norms avatar resurrection because I got some criticism about my description of how it will happen and how some of it sounds implausible. I'm not annoyed about the criticism, I actual encourage it because it tells me what to improve. If you have any questions or suggestions about my fic or anything else, please feel free to PM me.

But aside from the issues, I am very happy with what I have on this site and the reviews and favorites are proof of it. It was great to express my thoughts in this story and it's always good to know that a lot of people love what I've written. As always, I ask you to keep referring my fic to friends and any other people who like avatar. The support really helps. For what's next, I'm working on another Avatar fic called "Regret" which follows an RDA soldier operating on Pandora and I have another Jake & Neytiri one-shot that takes place after "Together at last." Aside from avatar, I'm working on a "Novelization" of _Medal of Honor: Allied Assault_ and I have ideas for stories for _StarCraft_ and _Guardians of Ga'Hoole._

As for My final words, hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had creating it and thank you for your support. See you soon. :)


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